Japanese journalist acquitted of defaming Park

The headline of Kato’s report, which cited financial industry rumours, parliamentary debates and the leading conservative South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, said: ‘President Park Geun-hye was missing on the day the passenger ship sank.

A Seoul court said today Mr Kato’s article had damaged Ms Park’s reputation as an individual, but accepted his argument that it was meant to serve public interest, finding him not guilty of the charge.

A reporter from Japan’s Sankei newspaper was found not guilty of defaming South Korea’s President Park Geun Hye by a Seoul court.

The Japanese journalist held a press conference in Seoul after the ruling and said the verdict was a “natural decision”, adding that he hoped the prosecution would not appeal the decision, Kyodo News reported.

Seoul prosecutors had demanded a guilty verdict and an 18-month jail term for Mr Kato, arguing he clearly meant to defame Ms Park.

The piece, based on South Korean news articles, suggested Park was away from her office in a secret rendezvous with a divorced former aide for a seven-hour period on April 16. “However, it is hard to conclude that he had the intent to defame the president as a public figure”.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A Seoul court on Thursday acquitted a Japanese reporter of defaming South Korea’s president by reporting that she was spending time with a man during a deadly ferry disaster previous year.

The ministry noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries and their ever-frozen ties now showed signs of thawing.

The trial had further irritated already inflamed ties between the South and its former colonial power Japan, which have for decades bickered over history and territorial disputes.

Japan and South Korea have been attempting to improve ties despite recent developments, including the arrest of a South Korean in connection to a small explosion at Yasukuni Shrine and a retaliatory delivery of excrement to a South Korean consulate in Yokohama.

The issue was also a sore spot in bilateral relations between Seoul and Tokyo over the past year, officials here said.

Similar sentiments were also shared in Tokyo, with even Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressing that he “appreciated” the ruling.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said earlier Thursday that it had asked the Justice Ministry to consider Japan’s request for leniency on Kato.

Kato’s paper, the Sankei Shimbun, is reviled by some South Koreans for its right-leaning editorial stance.