Prof. Hwang Yong-seok and Constitutional Court Decision on SBS 'Unanswered Questions' Win Cheol-woo Press Law Award

The Korean Society for Press Law has selected a paper by Konkuk University Professor Hwang Yong-seok and the Constitutional Court's decision regarding the SBS "Unanswered Questions" report on child abuse victims as the winners of the 25th Cheol-woo Press Law Award.

The Korean Society for Press Law (President Choi Woo-jeong) held the Cheol-woo Press Law Award ceremony and commemorative seminar on the 19th floor press conference room of the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, today (the 20th), where the awards ceremony took place.

Marking its 25th anniversary this year, the Cheol-woo Press Law Award honors outstanding papers and books that have contributed to media law research and the advancement of freedom of expression, as well as precedents that have established new legal standards.

Selected as the winner in the paper and book category, Professor Hwang Yong-seok's paper titled "A Critique of the Judgment Structure for Regulating False and Distorted Information in the Digital Platform Environment" was published in the academic journal "Journalism and Law" last April. The Cheol-woo Press Law Award Review Committee (Chairperson Lee Jae-jin) evaluated the paper as having high research completeness and policy contribution, noting that it not only systematically analyzes the conceptual and structural issues surrounding the regulation of false and distorted information but also presents concrete policy alternatives.

In the precedent category, the Constitutional Court's decision (2023Hun-Ma1114) delivered on December 23 of last year regarding the SBS "Unanswered Questions" report on child abuse victims was selected.

Regarding the 2021 broadcast by the production team of SBS "Unanswered Questions" which revealed the face and personal information of a child victim who died from abuse, the prosecution judged it a violation of the Child Abuse Punishment Act and issued a suspension of indictment. However, the Constitutional Court recognized the unconstitutionality of the disposition and revoked it.

Regarding this decision, the Cheol-woo Press Law Award Review Committee evaluated it as significant because it presented judgment criteria that comprehensively consider specific circumstances—such as whether the victim is alive, the purpose and method of the report, and the content of the disclosed information—rather than uniformly weighing the protection of the victim's personality rights against the public interest reporting function of the media.

Following the awards ceremony, the commemorative academic seminar on the Cheol-woo Press Law Award, themed "Utilization of AI-Generated Expressions and Legal and Ethical Issues," was moderated by Dankook University Professor Chang Chul-jun. During the seminar, MBC Producer Choi Min-geun gave the first presentation under the theme "New Content Production Methods for Humans and AI Created by AX," and Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) Researcher Hwang Hyun-jung gave the second presentation under the theme "Audiovisual Media in the Generative AI Era: Changes in the Content Ecosystem and Policy Tasks."

Amid a rapidly changing media environment driven by the spread of digital platforms and generative AI, the Korean Society for Press Law plans to continue its research and academic discussions on major tasks in the field of media law, including freedom of expression, the protection of personality rights, the public interest role of the media, and the responsibilities of platforms and AI.
(Photo: Captured from the Konkuk University Department of Media and Communication website)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.