Tatsuya Kato, 49, who was Seoul bureau chief of the Sankei Shimbun, was under prosecution without detention for a year and two months before Friday’s acquittal, South Korean outlet News 1 reported.
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The court added that Kato wrote the article with the motive of informing the Japanese people of the political situation of a neighboring country out of “public interest”, which is why it was handing down a verdict of not guilty.
A lower court cleared a Japanese reporter Thursday of defaming South Korean President Park Geun-hye by reporting rumours about her whereabouts during a deadly ferry disaster previous year.
“The court views the conduct of the defendant was in the realm of freedom of the press”, Judge Lee Dong-geun said at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing, speaking for a three-judge panel.
“I highly appraise the not guilty verdict”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.
The article picked up unproven rumours circulating in the South Korean media that the unmarried Ms Park had disappeared for a tryst with her former aide at the time of the disaster.
“I would like to hope that it will have a positive impact on relations between Japan and South Korea”, the country’s Kyodo news agency quoted him as saying. “Following the summit between the leaders of South Korea and Japan that took place in Seoul in November, we held in-depth deliberations”.
South Korea’s foreign ministry had asked the court to consider Japan’s request for leniency given the two countries’ recent efforts to improve ties. Nonetheless, IPI reminds South Korean authorities that criminalising defamation falls dramatically short of global legal standards and has a chilling effect on journalists.
There is also widespread frustration among young people over joblessness and inequality, analysts say, which has inspired an Internet buzzword, “Hell Joseon”, referring to the feudal Joseon kingdom that ruled Korea before it was colonized by Japan in the early 20th century.
“Multiple Japanese government officials have said that this case has been an impediment to bilateral relations”, a senior foreign affairs official said on Thursday. South Korean media also have reported the ruling will benefit diplomatic ties with Japan.
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The official stressed that the trial clearly revealed that the report had been based on false facts.
