"Somewhat Exaggerated Expressions,
But Consistent with Objective Facts"
Former Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang lost the second trial in a damages lawsuit she filed against Professor Seo Min-dan of Dankook University. Previously, Professor Seo had raised allegations that Yoon misappropriated the funeral expenses of comfort women grandmothers, and Yoon filed a damages claim lawsuit, arguing that her reputation was damaged.
On the 22nd, the Civil Division 4-1 of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Yoo Hyun-jung) overturned the original ruling that partially ruled in favor of Yoon in the civil appeal lawsuit against Professor Seo and ruled in favor of Professor Seo.
Yoon Mi-hyang, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, is arriving at her office in the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the 15th. Yoon, former chairperson of the Justice and Memory Foundation, has been indicted without detention on charges including violation of the Subsidy Management Act and quasi-fraud. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@
The appellate court stated, "In the related criminal case, it was recognized that most of the approximately 130 million won collected by Yoon in the name of funeral expenses for comfort women grandmothers was used in a manner unrelated to the purpose of comforting the bereaved families and supporting the funeral," and added, "In fact, the fact that Yoon did not use most of the funeral expenses she collected according to the original purpose is considered to align with important objective facts."
It continued, "Considering the overall intent and content of the article in this case, it is merely somewhat exaggerated expression," and ruled, "Based solely on the evidence submitted by Yoon, it is insufficient to conclude that Professor Seo stated false facts that could infringe upon Yoon's social value or evaluation."
In 2021, Professor Seo posted on his blog, "The Justice Memory Solidarity (Jeonguiyeondae) collected funeral expenses from citizens every time a comfort woman grandmother passed away, but hospitals such as Severance did not receive a single won for funeral expenses," and added, "Nevertheless, Jeonguiyeondae made it appear as if funeral expenses were spent. Personally, I suspect misappropriation."
In response, Yoon filed a lawsuit, claiming that Professor Seo seriously damaged her reputation by stating clear false facts that were not even in the prosecution's indictment.
In July of last year, the first trial court (Civil Division 4, Cheonan Branch of Daejeon District Court) ruled in favor of Yoon. It judged that the false facts damaged her reputation and that the insulting and contemptuous personal attacks infringed on her personal rights, ordering compensation of 5 million won.
Yoon, a former chairperson of Jeonguiyeondae, was elected as a proportional representative of the Democratic Party's satellite party, the Deobureo Citizen Party, in the April 2020 general election based on her history of supporting comfort women victims. However, in September of the same year, she was indicted on eight charges, including illegally collecting 130 million won in funeral expenses for comfort women grandmothers under her personal name and embezzling donations for comfort women victims.
Subsequently, last November, four years later, Yoon was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation. The Supreme Court found her guilty of embezzling 79.58 million won in donations and collecting 129.67 million won in a personal account under the name of condolence money for grandmother Kim Bok-dong and using it for other purposes.
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