Reporter Court-Ordered to Pay YG Entertainment for Libel

On April 1, the Western Seoul District Court ruled that sports reporter “K” must pay the plaintiffs 5 million won (approximately $4,300) each, for a total of 10 million won (approximately $8,700), in lawsuits brought forth by YG Entertainment‘s Yang Hyun Suk.

The lawsuits were filed in July 2015 against reporter “K” for spreading false accusations, and consequently damaging the reputations of both Yang Hyun Suk and YG Entertainment. They asked for a total of 200 million won (approximately $173,600) to be paid for the damages ensued, with each lawsuit asking for 100 million won (approximately $867,900) each.

At the time, reporter “K” had written both a column and report stating suspicions of singers under YG Entertainment administering drugs.

Earlier this month the reporter had been declared innocent, but it appears as though the case got appealed since then.

This time the court acknowledged that the reports written by reporter “K” contained falsified information, but they deemed 200 million won (approximately $173,600) was too severe of a punishment. Instead, they ruled that the final payment amount, mentioned above, would be satisfactory.

What are your thoughts on this ruling?

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