Court Rules on Discharge of Police Officer Who Posted Anti-Roh Message on Internet

Lee (48), a former sergeant assigned to the Yeongdeungpo police station, was discharged after he was discovered as the writer of an abusive message regarding President Roh that was posted on the Internet. Lee filed a lawsuit against the chief of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, claiming that being discharged was an excessive penalty. The administration office 1 (chief judge: Kwon Soon-il) of the Seoul Administration Court ruled in favor of the defendant on June 3.

The court said that forgetting his status as a police officer, the plaintiff was even drunk on duty and posted the abusive messages on the Uri Party’s website, such as, “Get out of office, Roh! You’re a Kim Jong Il trooper.” The court added that it was undeniable that making his post available to the public seriously harmed the people’s trust in the police as a whole.

Last September, Lee posted an abusive message regarding the president on the Uri Party’s website while on duty in his office. Two months later, his conduct was made known to the media. An arrest warrant was issued for the charge of defamation, but it was later dismissed.

As he was notified of his release from the office in January, he filed a lawsuit, arguing that being discharged was an undue penalty. He claimed that his conduct was accidental because it came right after he just learned that the condition of his son, who was suffering from an incurable disease, became worse

Ji-Seong Jeon verso@donga.com