“Statements in Op-Ed Section, Difficult for Press to Take Responsibility“

Recently, lawsuits against the press has skyrocketed but the rate at which the press has won the cases in court in hugely increasing.

According to civil court 25th precinct in Seoul, which is in charge of the press cases, the press has won 10 out of 21 cases in court – a 47.6 percent winning rate.

This is five times higher than the 9.1 percent in 2000 and two times higher than 27.6 percent between 1990 to 2000.

The most representative case of the lawsuits is cannery companies who sued eight newspapers for "including the false report of harmful ingredients used in canning." but all of them were dismissed.

The suit for `ministerial patrimony` reports brought by the church, cases for reports of severe criticism, anti-performance sites that slandered celebrities were also dismissed.

A judicial source said, "It is hard to ask the press to take responsibility for columns, opinions, editorials that express freely personal opinions and reports on governmental bodies in public trust. The number of suits against the press has been rising for years. The huge reparation costs and the gradual care that the press has taken in making its reports may have contributed to the press` court victories."

There were 40 lawsuits in 2000 and this increased to 84 last year. The huge amounts of legal fees and unreasonable suits also contributed to increased victories in court for the press.

Jung-Eun Lee lightee@donga.com