Agricultural Ministry to Sue MBC

The Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said yesterday it will soon file a libel suit with the Seoul Southern District Court against “PD Notes,” a weekly documentary program airing on the nation’s leading TV network, MBC. The suit is in connection with the program’s report on the ongoing controversy over the safety of U.S. beef.

“The program, aired on April 29 under the title ‘Emergency Coverage! Is U.S. beef safe from mad cow disease?’ based its argument on unsubstantiated evidence, exaggerating the risk of U.S. beef,” said the ministry.

“The program reported on an American woman in the U.S. state of Virginia suspected to have died of the human variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirmed that the cause of death is not vCJD,” explained the ministry.

Officials of the Agricultural Ministry said it will hold the MBC program legally accountable for damaging the honor of the government and the beef negotiations team.

On May 6, the ministry applied for mediation to the Press Arbitration Commission. The commission accepted the request and on May 15 demanded that MBC correct any falsities and report a counterargument.

However, as MBC spurned the ruling, the ministry has decided to take the issue to the court.

swon@donga.com