Byun Hee-jae Loses Damages Suit Against State Over 'Choi Seo-won Tablet PC Fabrication' Claims

Byun Hee-jae, CEO of MediaWatch, who was sentenced to a final two-year prison term for spreading false claims that the tablet PC belonging to Choi Seo-won (formerly known as Choi Soon-sil), the so-called shadow power figure of the Park Geun-hye administration, was fabricated, has lost a damages lawsuit filed against the state.

The Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Yu-bin of Civil Settlement Division 40, recently ruled against the plaintiff in the damages suit filed by CEO Byun against the government.

In September of last year, Byun filed a lawsuit claiming 50 million won in damages, arguing that he suffered psychological distress because the first-instance court convicted him based on the special counsel's investigative report, despite the investigation results regarding Choi's tablet PC being untrue.

Choi's tablet PC drew attention as a core piece of evidence in the state-affairs scandal, as it contained former President Park Geun-hye's speech drafts and Cheong Wa Dae documents.

Previously, Byun was indicted on charges of spreading false information through his book "Son Suk-hee's Curse" and MediaWatch articles, claiming that "JTBC conspired with former Cheong Wa Dae administrative officer Kim Han-su to obtain the tablet PC, fabricate its files, and report it as if it had been used by Choi Seo-won." His two-year prison sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in March.

Taking into account the court rulings in the related criminal case, the court concluded that it was difficult to recognize the damages claimed by CEO Byun.

From the first and second-instance trials up to the Supreme Court, the courts judged that all the allegations made by Byun regarding the tablet PC were false, and this was not based solely on the special counsel's investigative report as Byun claimed.

Byun appealed the ruling.

When his criminal conviction was finalized by the Supreme Court, he also filed a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court, but the court dismissed it during the preliminary review stage, stating it did not meet the grounds for review.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.