Former High-Ranaing Prosecutor Yoon Gab-keun Loses Appeal Against JTBC Over 'Kim Hak-ui Scandal' Reporting

Former Daegu High Prosecutors' Office Chief Yoon Gab-keun has lost his appeal in a damages lawsuit he filed against JTBC for reporting on his alleged involvement in the "Kim Hak-ui scandal."

The Seoul High Court's Civil Division 13-1 (Presiding Judges Baek Kang-jin, Lee Kyu-hong, and Hwang Jin-gu) ruled against the plaintiff on August 28 in the damages lawsuit filed by former Chief Yoon against JTBC, former anchor Son Suk-hee, and the reporting journalist.

This decision overturns the first-instance ruling, which ordered the defendants to jointly pay 70 million won to former Chief Yoon.

In March 2019, JTBC reported that construction businessman Yoon Joong-cheon, who was suspected of providing sexual favors to former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui and others, had admitted to his close ties with former Chief Yoon—such as playing golf together—during an investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Truth-Finding Committee.

In response, former Chief Yoon stated, "I have never even met Yoon Joong-cheon," and filed a damages lawsuit seeking approximately 300 million won against JTBC and others later that year.

In February 2021, the first-instance court ruled in favor of liability, stating, "The reporting in question crossed the boundaries of legitimate journalistic activities such as monitoring, criticizing, and checking the plaintiff, who was a public official, and constituted an illegal act that lowered the plaintiff's social standing through malicious or severely reckless attacks."

The first-instance court deemed unreliable the police investigation records and statements given to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Truth-Finding Committee by Yoon Joong-cheon's driver, which JTBC had used as the basis for its reporting.

However, the second-instance ruling, delivered five and a half years later, reached a different conclusion: "Even considering the circumstances where the reporting process and background had dubious points and involved some inappropriate actions, unless there is sufficient evidence to acknowledge the falsity of the reported content itself, it is difficult to recognize liability for defamation."

The second-instance court acknowledged that while Yoon's driver stated in a 2013 police investigation that "former Chief Yoon and Yoon had phone conversations and visited the villa once or twice, so I remember his face," the driver gave a different account during an investigation by the Past Affairs Investigation Team in 2019, stating, "As of now, I do not know whether former Chief Yoon visited Yoon's villa."

Nevertheless, the court pointed out, "It is common for memories to fade over time, and it is difficult to see the statements heard by the Past Affairs Investigation Team approximately 10 years after the period when he worked as a driver as having higher credibility than his police statements."

The court noted, "It appears that JTBC primarily relied on materials unilaterally provided by investigative agencies and others, delivering the investigative situation in a one-dimensional manner. Questions may be raised as to whether sufficient and balanced efforts required of journalists for fact-checking were made during the reporting process."

It continued, "However, on the other hand, this report was directly related to the functions of monitoring and criticizing public officials or the public sector, which is the original mission of the press. In light of the degree of the report's public interest and its relevance to freedom of the press, the freedom of reporting cannot be easily restricted based on some problematic aspects of the reporting background and practices."

In May 2019, after the Ministry of Justice's prosecution past affairs committee announced the deliberation results of the Kim Hak-ui case, stating that "statements and circumstances indicating former Chief Yoon met and played golf or had meals with Yoon have been confirmed," former Chief Yoon also filed lawsuits against officials from the past affairs committee and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Truth-Finding Committee.

However, he also recently lost his second-instance trial in this lawsuit, following the first instance.

The second-instance court concluded that the findings of the Truth-Finding Committee's investigation could not be deemed definitively false.

Former Chief Yoon is currently serving as legal counsel for former President Yoon Suk Yeol in his insurrection ringleader case.

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