By Here is a perfect example of how ridiculous Korea’s libel laws are and how the powerful like Samsung can use them to keep the media and others in line:
Headlined “What People Got for Christmas,” the English-language column also poked fun at global technology giant Samsung Electronics, referring to past bribery scandals as well as perceptions that its leaders are arrogant.
The piece was meant as a satirical spoof, the columnist says, but Samsung wasn’t laughing.
Breen’s column ran as local media reported that President Lee would soon pardon Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee on a 2008 conviction for tax evasion. Chairman Lee, 68, had already received a federal pardon in the 1990s on a conviction for bribing two former presidents while he was with the firm.
On Dec. 29, the day of Lee’s pardon, Samsung sued the freelance columnist, the newspaper and its top editor for $1 million, claiming damage to its reputation and potential earnings. After the Korea Times ran clarifications, the newspaper and its editor were dropped from the suit.
But Samsung continues to pursue Breen personally for libel, both civilly and on criminal charges that he intentionally libeled the company. If convicted, he faces a hefty fine and even jail time. [LA Times]
Read the rest at the link, but it is amazing that in Korea even if what you say about someone is true you can still be held liable for slander because you damaged someone’s reputation. The way I look at this is that it is just another example of a law put into place that allows the powerful to rule by law.
You can read more over at the Marmot’s Hole as well, which has been all over this story, but fortunately for Michael Breen the civil case against him has been dropped. However, the criminal case is still pending, but I would be surprised considering the publicity of this case if anything comes of it other than Mr. Breen issuing a statement of regret of some kind in order to let Samsung save face. Samsung has ultimately made their point though that I’m sure domestic Korean and probably most international journalists working in Korea will take into account before publishing anything negative about Samsung.
10:24 pm on May 12th, 2010 1
"Samsung has ultimately made their point though that I’m sure domestic Korean and probably most international journalists working in Korea will take into account before publishing anything negative about Samsung."
International journalistes maybe, but certainly not Korean citizens as evident by the book written by Kim Yong-chul. What he wrote isn't near as negative on Samsung compared to Breen's satire.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/technology/26sa…
I see Kim, Yong-chul as a S. Korean hero/leader for the future and his actions remind me of the tobacco executive(Brown & Williamson), Jeffrey Wigand – The 60 Minutes story originally aired in November 1995 – The Insider starring Al Pacino/Russell Crowe
Mr. Breen's original article "What People Got For Christmas" and was pulled from the Koreatimes website via Samsung's strong arm can be found at what I understand is an American blog called… expatkorea.com
6:46 am on May 13th, 2010 2
I'm surprised that this got so little play among the commenters at ROK Drop.
I'm also surprised [see here] that it took Mr Breen, a supposed expert on Korea (and a good guy), to fix this problem of face-saving with an obvious solution.
10:11 am on May 13th, 2010 3
Well, you break the laws in someone else's country, be prepared to pay the price.
The laws may seem crazy, but that's the way it is and will continue to be.
Sucks, but what can you do?
11:14 am on May 13th, 2010 4
Well JohnT,
We can do something…
Given the information Mr. B Wagner has provided, I would think at least a handful of people will be contacting Frank La Rue about what goes on with Chaebols, the media, and free speech here in S. Korea. It's been 15 years since they've been here on the issue, it's about time I'd say. Mr. Wagner wrote(I couldn't provide all the links he did but I did my best)…
The Samsung v. Breen issue could not be more apropos. The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression just happens to be in town.
The last visit was 15 years ago and it is by sheer coincidence that from May 6-17 Mr. Frank La Rue, the current Special Rapporteur is here in Seoul on a "fact-finding mission".
For more info on Special Rapporteur La Rue see here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Speci…
The Special Rapporteur recently explained that his fact-finding mission "will be a good opportunity to assess the progress in enhancing the right to freedom of expression in the Republic of Korea fifteen years since my predecessor visited the country, particularly in the current context where the use of the Internet has become widespread . . . During my mission, I will gather first-hand information on the situation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the media, and the related right to freedom of assembly and association."
[Source]
http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYe…
Mr. La Rue will be speaking at Yonsei University this Saturday (May 15, 2010) at 10:30am. More info is available.
A press conference might also be held at 2:30pm on Monday (May 17, 2010) at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Seoul (18F, Korea Press Center Building, Taepyongno-1Ga, Jung-Gu, Seoul) – but it's not confirmed.
The office of the Special Rapporteur can be reached by email at freedex@ohchr.org – more info is available.
The Republic of Korea addressed the UN Human Rights Council on March 2, 2010 and, in addition to discussing many other important issues, explained that the nation was "looking forward to the official visit this May of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, which has become a very important human rights issue in today’s world of information and communication."
A video of the ROK’s address to the Human Rights Council is available…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYjFGZ_Gbp8
You can find Mr. Wagner's comment here…
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2010/05/after-in…
5:03 pm on May 13th, 2010 5
Sorry, but I don't believe anything can or will be done.
8:05 pm on May 13th, 2010 6
I imagine, to a casual observer, this story does make South Korea seem to be kind of Russian oligarch-ish.
8:38 pm on May 13th, 2010 7
Someone should sue the people behind this No Gun Ri movie for libel
!
11:00 pm on May 14th, 2010 8
I posted on the Jon Stewart Daily Show Forum…
http://forum.thedailyshow.com/tds/board?board.id=…
Go there and show some support for my request
4:28 am on May 15th, 2010 9
Tbonetyler, come on, 'fess up. You're just full of glee at a chance to bash some Korean entity, any Korean entity, in a non-Korea-based forum, huh?
I mean, you took a legitimate free speech issue stemming possibly from abuse of corporate power and turned it into an accusation of racism:
The ironic thing is that while Samsung has yet to drop the criminal charge against Mr. Breen they have not filed any kind of court documents against Kim, Yong-chul who wrote a book which included much worse things/truths/allegations against Samsung. Does race come into this equation? Mr. Breen isn't Korean while Kim, Yong-chul obviously is.
4:29 am on May 15th, 2010 10
Nope it's ok for Koreans to do it to foreigners, but not the other way around, that much should be evident.
4:31 am on May 15th, 2010 11
Not that I disagree with you, but can you explain why nothing has happened to Kim Yong chul or the people who dragged Lonstars' name through the mud when they did nothing illegal?
4:44 am on May 15th, 2010 12
I'm not going to get into the whole Lone Star thing, the narrative of which involves a lot of people forgetting the bad stuff Lone Star folks (including Koreans) did.
Your pile-on of stuff just shows you're not interested in discussion as much as making sure someone else comes to the same conclusion as you that Korea is a rotten place and Koreans in general are rotten people.
As for the race thing, you are aware that in the Breen case, it was not just Breen but a load of Koreans that were also in the same boat as Mr Breen, right?
4:51 am on May 15th, 2010 13
JohnT, just who do you think would do the suing in that case?
As for your notion that foreigners can't sue Koreans, I beg to differ. I know personally of several successful cases where most or all of the plaintiffs were kyopos or (mostly) other foreign residents, suing Korean individuals or organizations.
These were not libel cases, of which I don't know any, so can you refresh my memory of unsuccessful libel cases where a foreigner sued a Korean, so we can look at the merits instead of making specious comments about racism?
4:52 am on May 15th, 2010 14
My apologies about the "pile-on" comment. I was reading "JohnT" and thinking it was written by Tboneytyler.
5:05 am on May 15th, 2010 15
Please look at the track record of the lack of justice foreigners experience in Korean courts.
I'll refresh your memory of Mike Hurt being assaulted and not getting any justice.
Kyopos eh? Aren't they ethnic Koreans?
I guess my unclear point was that for the most part, foreigners in Korea can't expect to find much justice of any kind from Korean courts.
Sorry, your knowledge of several cases, mostly cases involving ethnic Koreans proves nothing.
5:22 am on May 15th, 2010 16
Please look at the track record of the lack of justice foreigners experience in Korean courts.
Besides cases sensationalized on the blogs, what cases do you know of? Foreigners do enter the Korean courts and the way they fare is often not terribly different from Koreans in their socioeconomic group.
I’ll refresh your memory of Mike Hurt being assaulted and not getting any justice.
Please do refresh my memory, because I've asked here and there on forums where Metropolitician posts about what the results were, and he never replied. Other than a bad night out (was he physically assaulted?), what was the result of his "arrest"?
Kyopos eh? Aren’t they ethnic Koreans?
I guess my unclear point was that for the most part, foreigners in Korea can’t expect to find much justice of any kind from Korean courts.
In cases that don't make the press, how do you know this is true? And how do you know that foreigners fare any worse than Koreans in the Korean courts (which seems to me isn't all that stellar).
Sorry, your knowledge of several cases, mostly cases involving ethnic Koreans proves nothing.
I think you missed the word "or" before "mostly." Most of the plaintiffs in these cases were ethnically non-Korean.
5:36 am on May 15th, 2010 17
You did not answer my question about Kim Yong chul Kushibo, why not? Foreigners have a long history of not finding any kind of justice in Korea Kushibo, even when they are not at fault. You're "several" cases are a joke. There are links to back up what I say on this very site.
In the end Kushibo, I can not "refresh" you're memory. At least I've got the balls to admit it! Do you know what it's like to be a visible minority in Korea, because, and I know it's hard for you to accept it, you really don't know what it's like for foreigners in Korea and a lot of the solutions and ideas you offer are bullshit. This is my personal experience. Your so called "solutions" sound good in theory, but don't really work. Ask a biracial Korean about justice in Korea if you don't believe me.
A gyopo telling a foreigner what it's like for them in Korea, please. You're like the guys on Big Bang Theory, put you on the streets and you don't know shit.
I can tell you this much Kushibo, when I complained to the cops about something that happened to me, "I was a foreigner and that's just the way it is in Korea" is what the cop said to my translator friend. Don't preach your bullshit to me, because most of the time it is never the way you say it is for foreigners in Korea. Of course, for gyopos it might be how it is, but I'm not going to speak for them.
5:48 am on May 15th, 2010 18
Please, the fact that the guy LIED about Hurt kicking him and the fact it went to court at all is proof of injustice. What about the Daegu assault case with the GI and his Korean wife.
If they don't make the press then YOU also can't say a damn thing either Kushibo.
You really have no idea Kushibo, you think you do, but you don't. Again, you're a fine academic, but the street smarts just aren't there. At least when it come to being a foreigner in Korea.
Funny, how your knowledge of several cases of foreigners finding justice in Korea seems to prove that there is justice for foreigners in Korea, but not the other way around.
5:52 am on May 15th, 2010 19
You did not answer my question about Kim Yong chul Kushibo, why not?
Because you're doing a pile-on and I don't have time to deal with a string of, "Oh, yeah, what about this one?" every time a point is made.
Looking at the case at hand instead of Lone Star with its gray areas painted white in the K-blogs, Mike's case which he left the ending out from, etc., etc., just looking at this case…
Samsung sued Mr Breen and the newspaper (a bunch of Koreans) and its top editor (a Korean) for the million dollars. Tbonetyler (and you) ignored the Koreans being sued (see his Daily Show comment above) because it didn't fit in with the notion that "race come[s] into this equation."
As for the cases I spoke of, they were rather significant. First off, there were the foreign Asiana pilots back in the 1990s who sued because they weren't being given severance pay. Asiana said that their far higher salary meant they did not warrant severance pay, but the Korean court came down firmly on the side of the foreign pilots. This inspired the foreign teachers (mostly non-kyopo) at a university where I taught GRE for a few years to sue to get severance, since the university insisted the annual bonus they were receiving should count as severance. Again, the court said, nope, if it isn't specified as severance, you can't later say it's severance. My other court cases I know come from having to hang around in the court while a legal matter of my own got resolved. Try that sometime and see if it changes your POV.
6:00 am on May 15th, 2010 20
If you're going to keep harping on about Metropolitician's case, can you at least provide a link where he describes how it ended (or how it is still continuing)?
And yeah, the Taegu subway case was bullshit, and the guy who made the b.s. complaints was a racist and a sexist. Absolutely. There's a lot more to say about that (including that the one guy who ended up with problems in the end could have ended it the same way Koreans do when faced with nonsense complaints), but I don't have time to answer to all in your pile-on.
I did not make the case that there is no racism in Korea. I did not make the case that all cases involving foreigners are completely fair.
Rather, I was answering to tbonetyler's claim that this case is race-motivated.
7:00 am on May 15th, 2010 21
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were convicted of hostile acts, because they were working on a video report unfavorable to North Korea. Could the same thing have happened in Soth Korea?