False Report Claiming "Paik Jongwon's Side Sought Whistleblower's Identity"... Court Orders 30 Million Won in Damages

"Theborn Korea Inquired About Whistleblower's Identity to Police," Report Claims
Court: "False Information Caused Tangible and Intangible Harm"

Paek Jongmin, CEO of Theborn Korea. The Asia Business Daily DB

A court has ordered reporters from a daily newspaper to pay a total of 30 million won in damages to Paek Jongmin, CEO of Theborn Korea, and Theborn Korea, after publishing a report claiming that the company inquired about the identity of a whistleblower who had reported Theborn Korea for violating the Building Act.

According to the legal community on December 22, Kim Changhyun, the presiding judge of the 21st Civil Division at the Seoul Southern District Court, ruled on December 11 that in the damages lawsuit filed by CEO Paek and Theborn Korea against two reporters, including Reporter A from the daily newspaper, "Reporter A and the other defendant are jointly ordered to pay 20 million won to Theborn Korea and 10 million won to CEO Paek," thus partially ruling in favor of the plaintiffs.

Reporter A and others, in an article published in February regarding Theborn Korea's alleged violation of the Building Act, wrote, "Theborn Korea was found to have inquired about the identity of the whistleblower to the police, revealing poor corporate ethics." Three hours later, this statement was revised to, "It was revealed that Theborn Korea had requested disclosure of the report to the police, revealing poor corporate ethics."

Two weeks later, at the request of Theborn Korea, a rebuttal article was published stating, "The request for information disclosure was made by specifying the part corresponding to the alleged charges in the complaint, following the procedure guided by the person in charge, in order to verify the content of the civil complaint. This is merely a routine and general procedure in response to a police investigation."

CEO Paek and Theborn Korea filed a damages lawsuit against the two reporters, claiming, "Our reputation was damaged by this report." Reporter A and the others countered, "The report was based on the whistleblower's information."

The court found that Reporter A and the others had defamed CEO Paek and Theborn Korea by presenting false information. Judge Kim stated, "The article categorically stated that the company 'revealed poor corporate ethics,' and after its publication, numerous negative comments such as 'pathetic' were posted on online communities. Reporting false information harmed Theborn Korea's social reputation and caused non-material damages." He added, "As a broadcaster, CEO Paek was referred to in the article as both 'Theborn Korea Paek Jongmin' and 'Theborn Korea operated by Paek Jongmin,' which likely caused him emotional distress."

However, the judge also noted, "Given CEO Paek's public profile, there is room to consider that the article was written in the public interest on a matter of significant social concern," and explained, "The amount of damages was determined by considering the content and manner of expression in the article, as well as the efforts made by Reporter A and others to verify the facts."