Blog, Criminal

What distinguishes the definition of “defamation” in Korea from other countries is whether it includes true statements or not. In most countries, defamation means “oral or written communication of a false statement about another person that unjustly harms their reputation” but not in Korea. In Korea, disclosing a true story about another person can still be defamation, under certain conditions.

Let us see what it says on Criminal Act, Article 307:

Article 307 (Defamation)

1. 1. 1. A person who defames another by publicly alleging facts shall be punished by imprisonment or imprisonment without prison labor for not more than two years or by a fine not exceeding five million won.
      2. A person who defames another by publicly alleging false facts shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years, suspension of qualifications for not more than ten years, or a fine not exceeding ten million won.
      3. As you can see, if you hurt someone’s reputation by spreading a true story about them, it’s “defamation under Article 307 (1)” and can be punished as a criminal offence; but if you do the same thing by telling a false story, it’s “defamation under Article 307(2)” and can be punished almost twice more severely.

Why is it a crime even when you told the truth? Because in Korea, defamation is about the matter of victim’s reputation. Even if you told the truth, such as, the victim cheated on their spouses, or the victim is secretly homosexual (please note that LGBT rights in Korea is almost nil), that story can ruin the victim’s reputation so that their lives would become much more difficult from now on. Reputation is a very serious matter in Korean society.

But what if there was a good reason you had to tell the story? For instance, if a politician accepted a bribe concerning a very important political decision, surely the people have a right to know about that. Would you still be punished if you spread that fact to the people, only because you hurt the politician’s reputation? Now this is the reason why there is another article in Criminal Act:

Article 310 (Justification)

If the facts alleged under Article 307 (1) are true and solely for the public interest, the act shall not be punishable.

There are two conditions to justify the defamation: one, the alleged story must be true, and two, the act was solely for the public interest, though “solely” is rather loosely applied in actual cases. According to the Supreme Court Decision 99Do1543 delivered on June 8, 1999, even if you have a personal reason (e. g. your personal grudge against the victim) to spread the story, your action can still be justified if your main reason was for the public interest.