Abstract
On December 17, 2015, the Seoul Central District Court gave a verdict of
not guilty to Tatsuya Kato, former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun. He
had been charged with defaming South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye. The
purpose of this study is to analyze the decision and examine suggestions for the
defamation laws in Japan and South Korea. Although I agree with the conclusion
of the decision, I cannot accept the part of verdict on defamation of Park
as a private figure.
Structural problems exist in South Korea’s defamation laws, and the criminal
prosecution of this case deviates from the international standards. Therefore, it
is natural that the United Nations has repeatedly recommended that the South
Korean government abolish criminal defamation. South Korea has to fundamentally
reform the criminal defamation law, which has suppressed critical speech.
Meanwhile, this case has considerable implications for Japan, where criminal
defamation is being applied. Japan should also join the international community
in pursuing abolition or a strict application of the criminal defamation law as it
has harmful effects on democracy as well as freedom of expression.
