The criteria for determining whether the article of the press media impairs its reputation

Defamation refers to all acts that undermine the social evaluation of a certain person, and whether a media, such as a newspaper or magazine, carries an article about a specific person, constitutes defamation shall be determined based on the overall appearance of the article on the premise of the objective contents of the article, as well as on the overall flow of the article, the ordinary meaning of the used words, and the connection method of phrases, etc., on the premise of the ordinary method in which the general readers contact an article.

Articles 751 and 764 of the Civil Act, Article 309 of the Criminal Act

Kim Young-soo (Law Firm LLC, Attorneys Kim Young-chul et al., Counsel for the defendant-appellant)

Defendant 1 and two others (Attorney Choi Jong-soo, Counsel for the defendant-appellant)

Seoul High Court Decision 96Na5348 delivered on July 25, 1996

All appeals are dismissed. The costs of appeal are assessed against the Defendants.

We examine the grounds of appeal.

The court below held that, in light of the contents of the article of this case, the article should be based on the overall appearance of the article on the premise of the objective contents of the article, the ordinary meaning of the words used, the connection method of the phrases, etc. when the article is published by the media such as newspapers and magazines, and the contents of the article of this case, which affected the social assessment of a certain person, should be considered as the standard for its determination. In light of the contents of the article of the "Dalcheoncheon Korea" and the contents of the articles before and after the article of this case, the court below held that the article of this case should be considered as the basis for its determination. However, the court below's determination that the article of this case was harmful to the plaintiff's social coverage and the defendant 1, the news report of the article of this case and the publication of the article of this case that the article of this case was published by the plaintiff's news gathering as the source of the news report and the publication of the article of this case's news report as well as the publication of the article of this case's article of this case.

Therefore, all appeals are dismissed, and the costs of appeal are assessed against the losing party. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Justices Lee Im-soo (Presiding Justice)