hankyoreh

Jan. 20.

The producers of the MBC show “PD Notebook,” who were prosecuted after airing a segment reporting on the dangers of mad cow disease from U.S. beef, were found not guilty of all charges. In its ruling, the court stated, “Monitoring and criticism of government policy fall under freedom of reporting, an important component of press freedom.” Prosecutors are objecting to the ruling, and even Prosecutor General Kim Jun-kyu has come out against the verdict.

Judge Mun Seong-gwan of the Seoul Central District Court’s 13th Criminal Division handed down a not-guilty ruling Wednesday against “PD Notebook” senior producer Cho Neung-hee, 49, producers Song Il-jun, 52, Lee Chung-geun, 34, and Kim Bo-seul, 32, and writer Kim Eun-hee, 38, who were indicted without detention on charges of defaming the reputation of former Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun, 56, and others and disrupting the operations of beef importers by presenting intentionally misleading information in their report.

Regarding the show’s report which said that “downer cows” are cows suspected of having mad cow disease, the court stated in its ruling, “There are dozens of reasons for a cow to be categorized as a downer cow, and one cannot conclude that there is almost no chance the downer cow in the video had mad cow disease based solely on the fact that mad cow disease was not discovered in cows born in the U.S. after 1997.” The court went on to say that this report “cannot be viewed as intentionally misleading reporting.” The court also ruled that the show’s reports on the cause of death for Aretha Vinson, a U.S. woman who died after being diagnosed as a suspected case of the human form of mad cow disease, rate of this disease in South Koreans and the possibility of importing beef containing hazardous substances from cows aged under 30 months could not be viewed as intentionally misleading.

Regarding charges of distortions in the translated subtitles accompanying the broadcast, the court stated, “It is impossible to find any traces of changes or revisions to the translation occuring during the editing process, and it is difficult to believe the testimony of Ms. Jeong,” referring to the translator who claimed that the translation was misrepresented.

In reference to prosecutors’ claims that the report misrepresented the facts by stating that the government negotiation team “signed the agreement either not knowing the dangers of mad cow disease or knowing but deliberately concealing them,” the court stated, “The government did go through the process of analyzing the importation dangers prior to signing the agreement, but there were subsequent changes to the situation capable of giving rise to apprehensions about the safety of U.S. beef, including the airing of downer cow images in the U.S., which allow us to see the institutional problems in the U.S. livestock system.”

The court also said the “PD Notebook” report had “sufficient and rational reasons for harboring apprehensions about the safety of U.S. beef” and called it “criticism carried out with a considerable basis.” It went on to add, “When government policies are tied to the life and health of the people, they should always be subject to monitoring and criticism, and performing the function of monitoring and criticizing policy is the duty of the press and reporting.”

After the ruling, the producers and attorney Kim Hyeong-tae said the verdict “preserves the people’s health and the freedom of the press.” Prosecutors, however, gave a heated response and said they plan to appeal. Cho Eun-seok, spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office (SPO), reported that Prosecutor General Kim Jun-kyu convened a meeting of SPO officials, during which he said, “I think a lot of people are uneasy about the judiciary’s decision.” Kim continued, “It is a shame to have an incomprehensible decision on an important case that became a major incident that rocked the country.” Cho also reported that Kim instructed the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office to immediately appeal the decision.

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