Supreme Court Upholds Acquittal on Defamation Charges Involving False Statements
Remarks Regarding the Korean Council Constitute Defamation, 2 Million Won Fine Finalized
Professor Ryu Seok-chun of Yonsei University was acquitted by the Supreme Court on charges of defaming the honor of comfort women victims by stating during a university lecture that the Japanese military comfort women were a form of prostitution. However, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that his remarks suggesting that the 'Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan' educated the comfort women grandmothers to testify as if they had been forcibly mobilized by the Japanese military constituted defamation, and sentenced him to a fine of 2 million won.
On the 13th, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) finalized the lower court's verdict acquitting former Professor Ryu on the defamation charges related to the honor of comfort women victims.
The Supreme Court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment of acquittal in terms of violating the principles of logic and experience or exceeding the limits of free evaluation of evidence, nor is there a misinterpretation of the legal principles regarding the establishment of defamation," and dismissed the appeal.
Former Professor Ryu was prosecuted for defaming the honor of comfort women victims by stating during a Development Sociology lecture in the Sociology Department at Yonsei University on September 19, 2019, that comfort women were a form of prostitution.
The first trial court ruled that Ryu's remarks were protected under the constitutional freedom of academic inquiry and the freedom of professors, and that they were personal opinions expressed during a discussion, thus acquitting him. However, it recognized guilt only regarding the part related to the Korean Council and sentenced him to a fine of 2 million won.
The second trial court upheld the first trial's judgment, considering that Ryu had stated that his remarks were based on the views of former Seoul National University Professor Lee Young-hoon, and that when a student asked, "I think it is not prostitution but a state-led employment fraud and sexual crime," Ryu responded, "If that comes out, then I have nothing to say."
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