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South Korea Seeks Arrest of Irreverent Podcaster South Korea Seeks Journalist’s Arrest in Defamation Case
(about 17 hours later)
SEOUL — State prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for a South Korean journalist and podcast star for reporting an unconfirmed suspicion that the only brother of President Park Geun-hye might have been involved in the murder of a relative, the journalist’s lawyers said Sunday. SEOUL, South Korea — State prosecutors are seeking to arrest a South Korean journalist on charges of violating election laws for reporting an unconfirmed suspicion ahead of December’s presidential vote that the brother of the leading candidate might have been involved in the killing of a relative, the journalist’s lawyers said Sunday.
Choo Chin-woo, a reporter with the leading newsweekly SisaIN, has been charged with violating the country’s election law. In their indictment, a copy of which was made available Sunday, the prosecutors said that through articles and a podcast a few weeks before the Dec. 19 presidential election, Mr. Choo “defamed” and “spread false information” about the president’s brother, Park Ji-man, with “an aim of blocking her election.” In the indictment, a copy of which was made available on Sunday, the prosecutors said the journalist, Choo Chin-woo, had written articles and made a podcast that “defamed” and “spread false information” about the brother of the governing party’s candidate, Park Geun-hye, with “an aim of blocking her election.”
Mr. Choo attained nationwide fame when he worked as a co-host of the podcast “Naneun Ggomsuda,” or “I Am a Petty-Minded Creep.” Started in 2011, the online talk show became one of the world’s most downloaded political podcasts from the Apple iTunes store and raised allegations of wrongdoing against some of the country’s religious, economic and political leaders. Ms. Park won the election by a narrow margin and was inaugurated in February. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The prosecutors’ attempt to arrest Mr. Choo follows earlier criminal indictments of television producers and Internet bloggers whose reports criticized the government on charges of spreading false information and defamation — a practice that international human rights groups have repeatedly denounced for creating a chilling effect among government critics. The previous government also pursued criminal indictments of television producers and bloggers on charges of defaming political figures and disseminating false information — a practice that international human rights groups have denounced for creating a chilling effect among government critics.
“My crime was raising questions those in power don’t like,” Mr. Choo, 39, said in a recent interview. “They hate me like a cockroach and want to squash me.” “My crime was raising questions those in power don’t like,” Mr. Choo, 39, said in a recent interview. “They hate me like a cockroach and want to squash me.” A court is scheduled to decide on Tuesday whether to allow his arrest.
Filing a criminal indictment against people accused of spreading false rumors about public figures and then trying to incarcerate them during a long-term pretrial arrest is well beyond what would be accepted in other countries, said Park Kyung-sin, a professor of law at Korea University in Seoul. Mr. Choo skyrocketed to national fame as a co-host of the satirical political podcast “Naneun Ggomsuda,” or “I Am a Petty-Minded Creep.” The name invokes a derisive nickname for the prior president, Lee Myun-bak. Started in 2011, the show raised allegations of wrongdoing against some of the country’s religious, economic and political leaders. It became one of the world’s most downloaded political podcasts from Apple’s iTunes store, avidly followed by South Koreans who had lost trust in mainstream news media, much as young Americans embraced “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.”
“It’s very unusual and against the international human rights standards,” he said. The show was suspended after the December election, and prosecutors accused another co-host, Kim Ou-joon, of staying abroad to avoid an investigation on charges similar to what Mr. Choo faced.
A Seoul court is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to allow the prosecutors to arrest Mr. Choo. Mr. Choo works for a leading newsweekly SisaIN. In his articles and podcast ahead of the December election, he revisited a little-known 2011 case in which a son of a cousin of Ms. Park’s was found dead in a mountain park in Seoul, the nation’s capital. Another cousin of Ms. Park’s was found hanging from a tree. The police concluded that he had killed the first man and then committed suicide.
In his articles and podcast, the journalist revisited a little-known 2011 case in which Park Yong-chol, a son of a cousin of Ms. Park, was found brutally murdered in a mountain park in Seoul. The man’s cousin was also found dead, hanged from a tree. The police concluded that the first victim had been killed by the second, who then hanged himself. In his reports, Mr. Choo cited a legal dispute between Ms. Park’s brother, Park Ji-man, and his brother-in-law revolving around the brother-in-law’s accusations that Mr. Park had plotted to kill him and had hired as a hit man the Park relative found dead. (The brother-in-law, the husband of the Parks’ estranged younger sister, lost the case and served time in prison for slandering Mr. Park.)
In his reports, Mr. Choo cited a legal dispute between the president’s brother, Park Ji-man, and his brother-in-law, who accused him of plotting to kill him by hiring Park Yong-chol as a hit man. (The brother-in-law, the husband of the president’s estranged younger sister, lost the case and served time in prison for slandering the president’s brother.) Mr. Choo’s reports raised questions about the police investigation and cited the suspicion raised by the brother-in-law and his lawyer that the killing in the mountain park might have had something to do with a plot to block the victim from testifying for them. They also raised the possibility that the man who the police said hanged himself might have been killed.
Mr. Choo’s articles raised questions about the police investigation and cited the suspicion raised by the brother-in-law and his lawyer that the murder of Park Yong-chol might have had to do with a plot to block him from testifying on their behalf in their legal battle against Park Ji-man. They also raised the possibility that the man who police said hanged himself might have been murdered as well. Mr. Park sued Mr. Choo in December on charges of spreading false rumors to influence the presidential election. That set off the investigation by the prosecutors.
The president’s brother sued Mr. Choo on charges of spreading false rumors to influence the presidential election. International free-speech advocates — including Reporters Without Borders and Frank La Rue, the special rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression for the United Nations — have voiced concerns about a lack of tolerance for dissent in South Korea, where defamation is a criminal offense.
Ms. Park’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lee Jae-jeong, Mr. Choo’s lawyer, said of the possibility of his client’s arrest, “I don’t think this kind of thing can happen except in a backward country ruled by an authoritarian government bent on stifling freedom of expression.”
International free speech advocates — including Reporters Without Borders and Frank La Rue, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression — have voiced concerns about a lack of tolerance for dissent in South Korea, where defamation is a criminal offense. Park Kyung-sin, a professor of law at Korea University here, said filing a criminal indictment against people accused of defaming public figures with false rumors and then trying to arrest and hold them before any trial went against “international human rights standards.”
Mr. Park, the Korea University law professor, said that one of the biggest problems with the judicial practices in South Korea was that they hampered public scrutiny and the role of media as a watchdog by placing the onus of proof in a defamation or false-rumor case not on prosecutors or those claiming to have been defamed but on the defendants, even when the alleged victims were public figures. Such prosecutions, Professor Park said, hamper the role of the news media as a public watchdog, particularly since defendants accused of defamation are required to prove that their allegations are true.
In 2011, Chung Bong-ju, Mr. Choo’s colleague at the podcast, was thrown into prison for one year when he could not substantiate an allegation he had raised that former President Lee Myung-bak was involved in a stock fraud case. Many conservative South Koreans accuse the co-hosts of “I Am a Petty-Minded Creep” of using the mantle of satire to broadcast irresponsible statements, commit character assassination and promote political cronyism.
Many conservative South Koreans hated the co-hosts of the podcast, accusing them of irresponsible statements, character assassination and political cronyism passing itself off as satire. But they were wildly popular among young people who regarded the podcast as an alternative to the country’s mainstream media, which they considered pro-government and conservative. But at times, the show has sniffed out major news. It was among the first outlets to discuss suspicions that the country’s intelligence agency was involved in a secret online campaign to try to discredit opposition candidates in the December election.
Although most of the allegations on the podcast were just that, some of them helped break the hottest news in South Korea. It was among the first to suspect the country's intelligence agency of involvement in a secret online campaign to try to discredit the opposition candidates in the December election. Last month, the police announced that at least two government intelligence agents had been involved in such an operation. Prosecutors have since expanded the investigation, raiding the headquarters of the spy agency. Last month, the police announced that at least two government intelligence agents had been involved in such an operation. Prosecutors have since expanded the investigation, raiding the headquarters of the spy agency.
Prosecutors deny they were politically motivated when investigating government critics like Mr. Choo. But their detractors said that they were eager to press charges to show their loyalty to political power.
“I don’t think this kind of thing can happen except in a backward country ruled by an authoritarian government bent on stifling freedom of expression," said Lee Jae-jeong, Mr. Choo’s defense lawyer, referring to prosecutors’ move to arrest Mr. Choo.