A court has ruled that Seo Mi-hwa, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, and media outlets that reported her interview claiming former National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Standing Commissioner Kim Yong-won made "intimidating remarks" during a meeting bear joint liability to pay 5 million Korean won in damages for defamation.
Judge Shin Mi-jin of the Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Division 201 presided over the first trial of the damages lawsuit filed by Kim against Seo and others last month, ordering the defendants to compensate Kim.
Seo, a former NHRC non-standing commissioner, criticized Kim multiple times in a July 2024 media interview and a September 2024 Democratic Party assembly, calling him "anti-human rights." In response, Kim sued Seo and media outlets for 120 million Korean won in damages.
Kim contested three specific remarks by Seo. First, in the interview, Seo claimed Kim had said during the NHRC’s review of the "yellow envelop act," "If things don’t go my way, unimaginable consequences will follow," in an intimidating tone. Second, she described his behavior as "violent" and "aligned with the direction of power." Third, at the party assembly, she stated Kim and others had strongly opposed the "yellow envelop act" and the Itaewon crowd crush special act, and had "railroaded" the rejection of emergency relief measures for Colonel Park Jeong-hoon, who investigated a Marine Corps member’s death.
The court recognized the first remark as false and held...
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