'The Legend of Employment, Moon Jun-yong Wanted' Poster... Moon Confirmed Win in Compensation Lawsuit

Former Spokesperson Jeong Jung-gil Faces Hiring Favoritism Allegations
Court: "Not Defamation, but Infringement of Personal Rights"
Jeong to Compensate Moon with 7 Million Won

Former President Moon Jae-in's son, Jun-yong, was awarded 7 million won in damages after former Liberty Korea Party Central Election Countermeasures Committee spokesperson Jeong Jun-gil posted a poster referring to him as a 'national wanted person,' raising suspicions of preferential hiring. The court ruled that it was not defamation against Moon but judged that his personal rights were violated due to excessively humiliating expressions.

Poster of the issue

According to the legal community on the 12th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Ahn Cheol-sang) upheld the lower court's ruling on March 31 last month by dismissing the appeal without trial, ordering Jeong to pay 7 million won in damages in the appeal filed by Moon against Jeong.

Dismissing an appeal without trial is a procedure where the appeal is rejected without substantive review, as there is no special reason such as a violation of law in the lower court's ruling.

[Photo by Junyong Moon, sourced from Facebook]

Previously, in May 2017, ahead of the 19th presidential election, when suspicions of preferential hiring of Moon Jun-yong at the Korea Employment Information Service surfaced, Jeong revealed a poster containing phrases such as 'Moon Jun-yong National Wanted' and 'Myth of Employment' during a Central Election Committee briefing.

At the time, Jeong stated, “Moon Jun-yong is being directly demanded an explanation by the people of the Republic of Korea regarding preferential hiring, imperial leave, and retirement pay issues at the Employment Information Service, but he has never properly explained or apologized,” and declared, “We hereby announce a national wanted notice for Moon Jun-yong, son of candidate Moon Jae-in.”

He added, “We declare a national wanted notice for Moon. Citizens who believe that there should be no more unfair preferential hiring scandals involving silver spoons should report immediately.”

Moon Jun-yong [Image source=Yonhap News]

In response, Moon Jun-yong filed a lawsuit against Jeong in March 2018, seeking 30 million won in damages.

On August 24 last year, Moon also posted the poster image on his Facebook, warning, “Please be cautious.”

At that time, he said, “There was a court ruling that the poster that put me on the wanted list was indeed an insult and a violation of personal rights,” and added, “The court explained that even when raising public issues, expressions that respect the dignity of the other party must be chosen.”

The first trial ruled that the poster and briefing content were merely expressions of opinion and did not constitute defamation, but ordered 7 million won in damages for violating personal rights due to excessively humiliating expressions. The second trial upheld the same judgment.

Both parties appealed the ruling, but the Supreme Court found the appellate court's judgment appropriate and dismissed both appeals.