[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Publishers who suffered damages due to the so-called 'publishing blacklist' during the Park Geun-hye administration partially won their first trial lawsuit seeking compensation against the state.
On the 19th, the Civil Division 37 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Seokgeun) ruled that the state must pay approximately 110 million won in a lawsuit filed by 10 publishers, including Changbi and Haenam Publishing, against the state.
Earlier, these publishers filed a lawsuit in 2017, claiming they were unfairly excluded from the 'Sejong Book Selection and Distribution Project' during 2014-2015. It was investigated that the Park Geun-hye administration's Blue House arbitrarily excluded 22 titles under the pretext of improving the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's criteria for selecting excellent books.
However, the publishers' claims for consolation damages, arguing that the exclusion from book selection lowered their social evaluation and damaged their honor and credit, were not accepted.
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