South Korean prosecutors accused former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun newspaper, Tatsuya Kato of defamation. Prosecutors claim, he wrote that president Park Geun Hye had had a secret meeting with a man when there had been a ship accident on April 16th, on the news website. And they say this story is based on only a rumor among stockbrokers and other South Korean newspaper so Mr. Kato didn’t make some efforts to check the reliability and wrote falsehoods. Mr. Kato has denied the fault because the press has a value for the public. President Takamitsu Kumasaka of the company also demanded to cancel the charge. And Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida felt this suit was very regrettable and he was also anxious about the problem which concerned the freedom of press and Japan-Korea relationship.
This topic includes the problem whether the expression about president and politics has limitation or not. The press would cause some criticisms to the president or politics. Hence, it may be a beneficial press for the public. However, this story isn’t on a magazine but a news site so people must believe the story. So Editors should be refrained from such a rush behavior.
Under the Japanese criminal law, if you can prove that the story which is beneficial for the public is the fact, you won’t be punished for defamation. But people who write the story based on rumors or write without some researches wiil be punished. This suit isn’t in Japan but from a legal point of view, editors who swallow a rumor deserve to be punished. On the other hand, there are some opinions that president is a public person so she should stand that kind of presses, and even in Korea, people blame that the national power mustn’t invade the freedom of expression.
I think both side have each faults. Editors should take responsibility for that press but president has a chance to excuse herself so she shouldn’t make a criminal suit. I want journalists to write more beneficial contents and claim substantial opinions.