Supreme Court Confirms Not Guilty Verdict for Political Commentator Over False Facebook Post Claiming 'Gwak Sang-do Tested Positive and Visited Shincheonji Funeral Hall'

Member of the National Assembly Gwak Sang-do. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The acquittal of a political commentator who posted on his Facebook shortly after the first COVID-19 cluster infection at the Shincheonji Daegu Church in February 2020, claiming that then Future United Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do tested positive for COVID-19 and had visited a hospital where a Shincheonji member's funeral was held, has been finalized.

The reason is that since former lawmaker Kwak is a public figure, freedom of expression should be more broadly guaranteed than usual, and it was difficult to recognize any intent to defame, resulting in no proof of a crime.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) announced on the 12th that it upheld the acquittal verdict from the appellate court in the final appeal trial of political commentator Kim Seong-su, who was indicted for defamation by spreading false information under the Information and Communications Network Act.

The court stated, "Regarding the facts of the indictment in this case, there is no proof of a crime, and the appellate court's judgment of acquittal did not fail to conduct necessary examination, nor did it violate the limits of free evaluation of evidence against logic and experience, nor did it misinterpret the legal principles concerning defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act," thus dismissing the appeal.

Kim posted on Facebook on February 24, 2020, from his office in Mapo-gu, Seoul, using his smartphone: "It is reported that Kwak Sang-do, Future United Party lawmaker from Daegu, has tested positive. This makes it difficult for the National Assembly to pass the supplementary budget. Some rumors say that Representative Kwak visited the funeral hall of Cheongdo Daenam Hospital. Many have wondered why the Future United Party is not talking about Shincheonji... If by any chance the rumors are true, wouldn't that be circumstantial evidence?"

On February 19, 2020, 14 people were confirmed positive at the Shincheonji Daegu Church, marking the first cluster infection of more than 10 people in South Korea. By February 23, the number of confirmed cases in Daegu reached 602, most of which were traced back to the Shincheonji Daegu Church.

Notably, the funeral hall mentioned by Kim was where the funeral of Lee Man-hee, the 91-year-old founder of Shincheonji Church, and his elder brother was held. At the time, suspicions were raised that this location was linked to the COVID-19 cluster infection in Daegu.

During the period when the Shincheonji Church was highlighted as the epicenter of COVID-19 transmission in South Korea, former lawmaker Kwak posted content that could be misunderstood as implying a connection with Shincheonji and that he was infected with COVID-19 as a result.

Investigations revealed that Kim posted this after seeing a rumor in a KakaoTalk group chat, shared by A, a former media spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government whom he knew personally, stating that former lawmaker Kwak had tested positive for COVID-19.

However, former lawmaker Kwak did not visit the funeral hall at that time, nor was he diagnosed with COVID-19. The prosecution indicted Kim for violating the Information and Communications Network Act.

The first trial court found that Kim posted the article after seeing only the rumor shared in the group chat without verifying its source or other facts, and added the rumor that Kwak had visited the funeral hall related to Shincheonji. The court judged that there was sufficient evidence of intent to defame and knowledge that the information could be false, constituting defamation by spreading false information under the Information and Communications Network Act, and sentenced Kim to a fine of 3 million won.

However, the second trial court reversed the decision.

The appellate court cited Supreme Court rulings stating that "expressions raising suspicions about public figures and matters of public interest should be carefully evaluated and not readily regarded as statements of fact by implication," and judged that Kim's post contained a public character.

The court noted that Kim's post included the phrase "This makes it difficult for the National Assembly to pass the supplementary budget," and considering that on February 19, 2020, a confirmed COVID-19 case emerged among attendees of a forum hosted by former lawmaker Kwak at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, which led to the cancellation of the plenary session scheduled for the afternoon of February 24, it was difficult to regard Kim's post as unrelated to Kwak's official duties or purely private.

Furthermore, regarding the statement "Some rumors say that Representative Kwak visited the funeral hall of Cheongdo Daenam Hospital," the court reasoned that since the Shincheonji Church was socially controversial due to the COVID-19 spread and the Future United Party remained silent on the matter, Kim's expression of suspicion about a connection between Kwak and Shincheonji could be seen as raising a public interest issue related to a public figure.

Moreover, the court found it difficult to recognize any intent to defame Kwak, considering that Kim did not use provocative language overall, used relatively refined expressions, and promptly deleted the post and issued an apology upon realizing the post was not factual.

The Supreme Court also found no problem with the appellate court's judgment.