KOSDAQ Company Sues KBS for 10 Billion Won

A KOSDAQ-listed company, “Planet 82,” and its CEO Yoon Sang-jo, sued two KBS producers who made an investigative program speculating on the company’s possession of nano-image sensors. Planet 82 filed a defamation suit in Seoul Southern District Court on May 21 against the producers and the broadcasting station for statements they made about the company and its technology, seeking 10 billion KRW and the broadcast of a correction.

In its statement, Planet 82 said, “The technology in question was certified by the Korean Intellectual Property Office in the past. Companies that agreed to jointly develop the technology further may cancel the contract with us due to this TV program. Our stock price dropped, too, causing us to bear a financial loss.”

The national broadcasting station KBS commented in its show on the KBS 1 channel titled, “Scenes Created by New Technologies: Jackpot and Speculation,” that Planet 82’s nano-image sensors used infrared rays, not nanotechnologies, and that it was unlikely that the company was using any nanotechnology for its sensors.

Nano-image sensor technology is a state-of-the-art technology that enables taking pictures with only a little light. Since 2000, the ministries of commerce, industry and energy, and information and technology have made the technology a national policy priority and allocated 10 billion KRW to its development. The technology was developed by the Korea Electronics Technology Institute for five years until 2005, when it was later transferred to Planet 82.

will71@donga.com