Japanese journalist found guilty of defaming South Korean president

A South Korean court today cleared a Japanese journalist of defaming the South Korean president in a case that raised new questions about media freedom and had threatened to inflame relations between the uneasy neighbours.

“It is hard to conclude that the defendant meant to defame the president or libel her as a public figure”.

In an editorial, the Asahi Shimbun, described as appropriate the court’s ruling that Kato’s article was protected under freedom of journalism in a democratic society despite containing improper elements.

Kato’s lawyer said the reporter’s story served the public’s interest. In July 2014, South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, agreed to launch negotiations this year on the demarcation of their maritime boundaries amid tension over their overlapping EEZs.

It was the same day the Sewol ferry capsized, killing more than 300 people, mostly students on a high school excursion. “Following the summit between the leaders of South Korea and Japan that took place in Seoul in November, we held in-depth deliberations”.

“With the burden caused by the trial removed, we hope that (the verdict) will become an opportunity to improve bilateral relations”, said a Foreign Ministry official who declined to be named.

But some Japanese government officials were already raising concerns that Kato’s acquittal could prompt South Korean government officials to step up their calls for further concessions from the Japanese side on the comfort women issue.

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.

Many South Koreans still resent Japan’s harsh colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

After news of the acquittal spread, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in Tokyo, “I look forward to this having a positive effect on Korea-Japan relations”.

Although Park still has a strong base of supporters, dissatisfaction has been growing.

The demonstrators are upset at Park’s conservative labor, trade and education policies and also what they see as her attacks on personal and political freedoms.