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Honor tainted by defamation indictment

Posted October. 23, 2014 05:14,   

한국어

Dear Your Excellency Madam President,

I am sure you must be uncomfortable with many things as a president. Amid little progress made on the Sewol ferry accident, you are faced with a series of big accidents and many other piled-up issues.

I came to write this letter as I was concerned that you might lose patience in your hectic days. What I am saying is the case in which the former Seoul bureau chief for Sankei Shimbun was prosecuted for defamation.

Of course, I am well aware of the fact that the article in the newspaper’s online edition enraged you, Madam President. It is because the article ran a groundless rumor that you might have met a man in private, without taking care of your work on the very day of the ferry disaster.

Many Japanese found the article was too rude to a country’s president. A person said the article embarrassed him because it was like a tabloid. It is all the more true that the article later turned out to be wrong completely.

By the way, things changed later as the former Seoul bureau chief was subject to an investigation. The rumor was in fact started from a Korean newspaper and I do not think that the article can become crime. Even the Asahi Shimbun, which has different views with Sankei, expressed concerns about Korea in its editorial.

Reporters without Borders, a non-government organization headquartered in France, also warned of this. The Japanese government also expressed concerns.

Nonetheless, Korean prosecutors charged him. It must have been possible because the victim, who is the president, agreed on this. Japanese media claimed in unison that the Korean government has violated the freedom of speech, and the Japanese Newspaper Association adopted a resolution of a protest.

Now, I hear Japanese reporters’ grumbling that it has somehow become a weird development because the article was so pathetic that they cannot fight for the freedom of journalism and democracy. There were many people who often raised eyebrows at the evening paper of Sankei Shimbun, which was leading in anti-Korean wave coverage.

As Korea prosecutes the journalist, Sankei Shimbun turned into a victim. Instead, Korea’s global image was tainted by the action that is reminiscent of the era when it suppressed media. It also put a damper on the Korea-Japan diplomatic relationship, which was moving step by step towards a summit.

I remember the press conference when you visited Japan in 2006 as the head of the opposition party. When you were asked, “How can we resolve the Takeshima (Dokdo) issue,” everybody was waiting for your answer in silence. Then, you said a sentence with a smile: “It will be resolved when Tokyo recognizes Dokdo islets as a Korean territory.” Unlike then President Roh Moo-hyun who heavily criticized Japan over the issue, you leisurely stroke back and made Japanese journalists laugh.

Please recall your leisure and sense of humor.

The jury is already out over the article in question, so there is no need to use governmental authority. Too much is as bad as little. Rather, if you had said, “It’s an honor for me that you made me like a popular actress with such a scandal,” all would have said, “Wow.”

If the court rules him innocent, both prosecutors and the president will lose face. If he is found guilty, Korea’s global reputation will be tainted. Both scenarios are not good for Korea. Abusing defamation charges would undermine the reputation of Korea and even the president.

You might think this writing also defamed you. If so, I`d like to ask for your kind forgiveness for my discourtesies.

(Written by Yoshibumi Wakamiya, senior fellow of Japan Center for International Exchange and former chief editor of Asahi Shimbun)