ID :
168974
Thu, 03/17/2011 - 12:45
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/168974
The shortlink copeid
S. Korean court upholds privacy over people's right to know in wiretapping scandal
(ATTN: CORRECTS the number of judges in second para)
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's conviction of a journalist in a case that highlighted illegal wiretapping and political corruption in South Korea.
Still, the 14-member court suspended the handing down of a six-month prison sentence for Lee Sang-ho, a reporter for local television station MBC accused of violating a law protecting privacy of telecommunications. The ruling means Lee won't get jail time if he stays out of trouble for a certain number of months.
The ruling comes six years after Lee reported an alleged conspiracy by confidants of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee to give illegal political funding to candidates ahead of the 1997 presidential election, which was won by opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung.
In that year, South Korea's spy agency wiretapped the secret conversation between Lee Hak-soo, a top Samsung executive, and JoongAng Ilbo's publisher Hong Seok-hyun, the brother-in-law of the Samsung chairman.
The court said that although the reporter was not involved in the eavesdropping, he cannot be exempted from disclosing the illegally obtained material to the public as their conversation was not considered of high public concern nearly eight years after it took place.
"For media to be able to report personal conversations, legitimate public interest and concern should exist," the top court said in a ruling. "This case cannot be seen as a legitimate act."
Lee, 43, said he was disappointed with the ruling as it put the interest of top conglomerates over people's right to know.
"The ruling is a grave setback for the freedom of the press," Lee told Yonhap News Agency by phone from the University of California at Berkeley where he is teaching journalism as a visiting professor. He said he plans to return home in July.
There was no immediate response from South Korea's journalists' association.
In 2005, MBC reported on the conversation after its reporter Lee obtained a wiretapped tape from a former spy agent, rocking South Korean society in a scandal that later cost Hong his job as Seoul's ambassador to Washington just months after his appointment. Hong currently serves as chairman of the JoongAng Ilbo.
The scandal exposed a dark legacy in South Korea, where politicians and business officials have kept collusive links, trading illegal political donations in return for favors.
South Korea has since become transparent as the people and the media called for more accountability from politicians and businesses, though the decades-old practice still lingers.
Currently, six ruling and opposition lawmakers are on trial at a Seoul court over bribery allegations.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's conviction of a journalist in a case that highlighted illegal wiretapping and political corruption in South Korea.
Still, the 14-member court suspended the handing down of a six-month prison sentence for Lee Sang-ho, a reporter for local television station MBC accused of violating a law protecting privacy of telecommunications. The ruling means Lee won't get jail time if he stays out of trouble for a certain number of months.
The ruling comes six years after Lee reported an alleged conspiracy by confidants of Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee to give illegal political funding to candidates ahead of the 1997 presidential election, which was won by opposition candidate Kim Dae-jung.
In that year, South Korea's spy agency wiretapped the secret conversation between Lee Hak-soo, a top Samsung executive, and JoongAng Ilbo's publisher Hong Seok-hyun, the brother-in-law of the Samsung chairman.
The court said that although the reporter was not involved in the eavesdropping, he cannot be exempted from disclosing the illegally obtained material to the public as their conversation was not considered of high public concern nearly eight years after it took place.
"For media to be able to report personal conversations, legitimate public interest and concern should exist," the top court said in a ruling. "This case cannot be seen as a legitimate act."
Lee, 43, said he was disappointed with the ruling as it put the interest of top conglomerates over people's right to know.
"The ruling is a grave setback for the freedom of the press," Lee told Yonhap News Agency by phone from the University of California at Berkeley where he is teaching journalism as a visiting professor. He said he plans to return home in July.
There was no immediate response from South Korea's journalists' association.
In 2005, MBC reported on the conversation after its reporter Lee obtained a wiretapped tape from a former spy agent, rocking South Korean society in a scandal that later cost Hong his job as Seoul's ambassador to Washington just months after his appointment. Hong currently serves as chairman of the JoongAng Ilbo.
The scandal exposed a dark legacy in South Korea, where politicians and business officials have kept collusive links, trading illegal political donations in return for favors.
South Korea has since become transparent as the people and the media called for more accountability from politicians and businesses, though the decades-old practice still lingers.
Currently, six ruling and opposition lawmakers are on trial at a Seoul court over bribery allegations.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
