Open Sympathy TV: "Kim Geon-hee's Injunction Request is a Challenge to Press Freedom"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The YouTube channel 'Yeollin Gonggam TV' criticized the provisional injunction filed by Kim Gun-hee, spouse of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate, calling it "a challenge to and infringement on press freedom."

Kang Jin-guk, a reporter for Yeollin Gonggam TV, arrived at the Seoul Central District Court on the morning of the 19th for the hearing on the provisional injunction to ban broadcasting and distribution, and told the press, "Claiming that the entire 7-hour and 45-minute phone recording should not be reported due to personal rights infringement is an excessive assertion." Kang said, "Reporting on the phone recording serves the public interest by providing the public with various factors to consider for making a wise choice ahead of the presidential election," adding, "The provisional injunction requesting that all content be banned without specifying certain parts fundamentally constitutes prior censorship, which is against the Constitution."

He stated, "In the call, Kim said, 'If we gain power, the prosecution will take care of the media that made us uncomfortable,' which amounts to a statement restricting press freedom," and argued, "It is natural that such a serious view on the media held by the spouse of a presidential candidate should be reported from the perspective of the public's right to know." Kang added, "I hope the Seoul Central District Court will independently and carefully review the issue of press freedom infringement, separate from the provisional injunction ruling previously made against MBC."

The Civil Division 50 of this court (Presiding Judge Song Kyung-geun) will hold a hearing on the provisional injunction filed by Kim against Yeollin Gonggam TV starting at 10:30 a.m. The results of the hearing could be announced as early as this afternoon.

Earlier, Kim filed provisional injunctions against MBC, Seoul Voice, and Yeollin Gonggam TV, who had announced plans to release the contents of a 7-hour phone call with Lee Myung-soo, a cameraman working for Seoul Voice. The injunctions seek to prevent the disclosure of the call contents. The Seoul Western District Court Civil Division 21 (Presiding Judge Park Byung-tae), which received the injunction against MBC, allowed the release of most of the content except for daily conversations unrelated to investigations or political opinions about Kim, and complaints about the media, on the 14th. The injunction case against Seoul Voice was transferred to the Seoul Southern District Court considering jurisdiction from the Seoul Central District Court.