(CPJ/IFEX) – American journalist Richard Choi, a veteran reporter and the vice-president of Radio Korea, a Korean-language radio station in Los Angeles, was arrested at the Koreana Hotel in Seoul on 19 December 19997 and charged with criminal slander and defamation on the basis of a story he broadcast from Seoul to Los Angeles. The […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – American journalist Richard Choi, a veteran reporter
and the vice-president of Radio Korea, a Korean-language radio
station in Los Angeles, was arrested at the Koreana Hotel in
Seoul on 19 December 19997 and charged with criminal slander and
defamation on the basis of a story he broadcast from Seoul to Los
Angeles. The brief report, which aired exclusively in the Los
Angeles area on Radio Korea (KBLA AM-1580) on 15 December,
concerned the current economic difficulties of the Korea
Times/Han Kook Il Bo publishing company and its rumoured merger
with the Hyundai Corporation. The report has not been broadcast
in South Korea.
According to Jang Hee Lee, the owner of Radio Korea, the report
angered the owners of the “Korea Times”, which brought the
defamation suit against Choi that led to his arrest. Choi is
reportedly currently being detained in the Seoul Jail.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
undermines the democratic process in South Korea
jailed for what he or she writes or broadcasts, adding that there
are sufficient remedies in civil law available to those who feel
aggrieved by a reporter’s work
see that Richard Choi is released from jail and that the criminal
charges against him are dropped
Appeals To
President Kim Young-sam
The Blue House
1 Sejong-no
Chongno-gu
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Fax: +822 770 0253Prime Minister Lee Soo-sung
Office of the Prime Minister
77 Sejong-no, Chongno-gu
Seoul 110-760
Republic of Korea
Fax: + 822 739 5830Mr Ahn Woo-man
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
1 Chungang-dong
Kwachon-myon
Shihung-gun
Kyonggi Province, Republic of Korea
Fax: +822 504 3337Mr Park Il-yong
Director
National Police Administration
209 Mi Kun-dong
Sudaemoon-gu
Choongno-gu
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Fax: +822 2 720 2686 (via Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
