The Supreme Court ruled that some statements made by Ahn Min-seok, a former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, against Choi Seo-won (formerly known as Choi Soon-sil), regarding suspicions of overseas hidden assets, were "false facts and defamatory."
On the 26th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division, led by Chief Justice Eom Sang-pil, overturned part of the appellate ruling in favor of Ahn against Choi, remanding the case with a partial loss.
Earlier, Choi filed a 100 million won defamation lawsuit against Ahn, claiming he spread false information about her alleged hidden assets during broadcasts and other appearances between 2016 and 2019. Choi is a close confidant of former President Park Geun-hye and is known as a key figure in the 2016 corruption scandal. In June 2020, she was sentenced to 18 years in prison by the Supreme Court on charges related to the scandal.
At the time, Ahn stated that "Choi's overseas hidden assets amount to trillions of won," "There are hundreds of paper companies in Germany for money laundering," "Funds from a certain company linked to Choi were deposited in Swiss secret accounts," and "Choi met with the head of an American defense company to gain benefits."
The first trial ruled that Ahn must pay Choi 100 million won. Since Ahn did not hire a lawyer and failed to submit a separate response after the complaint was delivered, a default judgment was made.
Subsequently, Ahn hired a lawyer and began to respond, while the second trial overturned the first ruling and issued a ruling in favor of Choi. The court stated, "Ahn's statements were made in the context of the ongoing corruption controversy at the time," adding, "The content of the statements pertains to public interest."
The Supreme Court overturned the second trial ruling and issued a partial loss ruling against Ahn. It determined that Ahn's statements regarding Swiss secret accounts and the defense industry were false assertions and malicious, thus unlawful.
The Supreme Court panel stated, "Ahn claims to have received tips about the statements, but there is no relevant evidence, and it appears that he did not make efforts to verify the facts." It further noted, "Nevertheless, Ahn's use of very definite expressions exceeds mere speculation and allegation, which constitutes false assertions." It concluded, "There is no reason to believe the content is true, and the intent is malicious, thus unlawful."
However, the Supreme Court judged that Ahn's statements that "the scale of overseas hidden assets amounts to trillions of won" and "there are hundreds of paper companies in Germany for money laundering" are not unlawful. The court explained, "These statements were made in the capacity of a member of the National Assembly representing the public in the context of the allegations of corruption and asset concealment against Choi," and added, "It is difficult to assert that this exceeds the limits of freedom of expression."