Choi Kang-wook, the head of the Open Democratic Party, who is accused of falsely writing the internship certificate of the son of former Justice Minister Cho Kook, is leaving the court after completing the first trial hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 28th of last month. Reporter Jang Jin-young
Choi Kang-wook, the head of the Open Democratic Party, lost in the first trial of a lawsuit for damages filed against reporters at media outlets who wrote criticism about him.
On the 23rd, Seoul Central District Court’s civil 1005 judge, Seong Baek-hyun, said, “We are dismissing the plaintiff’s claim” at a courthouse filed by Choi against two other people, including daily reporter A. The case was a small claims lawsuit, and the court did not disclose the reasons for the loss in detail.
Earlier, after the 4-15 general elections last year, the Open Democratic Party revealed that Choi had a 7-minute phone call with President Moon Jae-in. He said, “President Moon comforted President Choi’s hard work during the election and was given an explanation of the policy direction of the Open Democratic Party.”
In this regard, Mr. A and others reported that “the call was made at the request of CEO Choi,” and CEO Choi filed a claim of 10 million won in June of the same year, saying, “It is different from the truth.”
CEO Choi is also the party who initiated the amendment to the Media Arbitration and Damage Relief Act, which introduces the’punitive damage compensation system’ to media companies earlier this month.
The amendment included content such as making it possible to judge the facts as’for slander’ even if the media arbitrarily selected the relationship. The main goal is to pay huge damages by multiplying the average daily sales of the media by the period the article was published.
Reporter Lee Yoo-jung [email protected]