Grand National Party Lawmaker Park Se-hwan said Tuesday that the number of cases filed by the current administration against the media, especially the Public Prosecutors¡¯ Office and the Ministry of National Defense, has increased dramatically compared to former governments. Park told the National Assembly¡¯s Special Committee on Budget and Accounting that suits filed by prosecutors against the media amounted to five cases in 1999, one in 2000 and five this year, totaling 11 claims for compensation for W 11.35 billion. He said some 91 prosecutors, or 8% of the total number, filed suits against the media over three years.
Pointing out that the Ministry of National Defense had only started filing lawsuits against the media in Kim¡¯s regime; three in 1999, four in 2000 and one in this year; Park raised a question of the legitimacy of claiming compensation for writing about already public issues, such as corruption in the military draft, the Maehyang-ri live fire range and the controversial movie ¡®Aegiseom¡¯ (depicting an army revolt of 1947).
Lawmaker Park said that prosecution¡¯s filing lawsuits against the media, instead of going through media arbitration, is not desirable as it has already been granted legal powers by law.
(Kim Chang-gyun, ck-kim@chosun.com)
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