hankyoreh

The government filed a defamation suit for 200 million Won in damages against Hope Institute Executive Director Park Won-soon, who alleged in June that the government was using the National Intelligence Service (NIS) to squeeze civic groups. It appears the Lee administration is targeting this civil society leader in order to make an example of him. This type of behavior puts President Lee Myung-bak’s talk of pragmatic centrism and reconciliation to shame.

This suit carries heavy implications as it could lead to the complete barring of criticism against the government. Park’s statement made to the press in June was a reasonable criticism of the government. Even if the Lee administration could justify some of Park’s allegations, it is clear that the NIS has been pressuring and harassing civic groups and critical media in various ways. There are several indicators that the NIS has intentionally intervened to pressure corporations to suspend their grants to civic groups and excluded civic groups’ public interest projects from receiving subsidies. The Lee administration is surely mistaken in asserting that Park’s statement was false. The administration’s statement, in spite of these events, that it will hold Park responsible for damages for trivial reasons must be seen as the administration’s intention to gag criticism and opposition. To silence voices about what the administration is doing is a denial of the constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms of the press and expression. This kind of action taken by the administration is no different than one a dictatorship would take.

One also wonders whether the launch of this suit amounts to the misuse of authority. Although filing a suit against a civic leader is legally feasible, it is difficult to find a precedent anywhere for this type of suit. It is questionable whether the state can claim damages against a sovereign citizen resulting from the defamation of a government body. This is because one cannot regard a governmental institution as the state itself, and legally speaking, one cannot regard the NIS and other intelligence agencies as having a personality with a sense of honor. In criminal cases, too, the government and political parties are not subject to criminal defamation. Moreover, since Park made his statement in interest of the public, it will be difficult for the court to recognize it as an illegal act.

We cannot believe the Lee administration is unaware that their case has no legal grounds. Its insistence to push the suit regardless, makes suspicions that the administration is harassing opposition forces by using the treasury and specialized institutions as weapons, unavoidable. Moreover, this only adds to the administration's track record of placing pressure on its critics, as in the case of the PD Notebook producers and former KBS President Chung Yeon-ju.

The NIS’s unreasonable behavior has worsened since the appointment of presidential confidant Won Sei-hoon as director. It is suspected that this suit, too, reflects the will of the NIS. History is already revealing to us the results of placing an intelligence organization in charge of protecting an administration.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]