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The National Intelligence Service
(NIS) filed a defamation suit last week for 200 million won in damages
against Park Won-soon, executive director
of the Hope Institute, a private think tank, for alleging that NIS was
pressuring corporations not to financially support civic groups and
standing behind subsidy cuts for such groups' public interest projects.
Claiming Park defamed the
``state," NIS made the ``state" the plaintiff.
``As the nation is aware, I have been doing charity movements through the
Beautiful Foundation and Beautiful Stores, and carrying out projects to
promote hope and governance of our society. I don't know why they are
doing this," Park
said during an interview with the Peace Broadcasting System
According to the information received, Mr. Park alleged that the National
Intelligence Service (NIS) had carried out surveillance and inspections
in violation of the National Intelligence Service Act while Mr. Park was
doing interview with a weekly magazine, Weekly Kyunghyang on June 10
2009. The NIS, in response to
Mr. Park's comments made during this interview, sued him for civil
defamation on September 14. In the statement, the NIS stated, "(the)
NIS has been accused of carrying out inspections which is an abuse of its
authority due to Mr. Park's false remarks". The NIS claimed that he
must pay KRW 200 million (around USD 170,000) in damages.
However, there has been no
investigation into these allegations raised by Mr. Park but instead he now
faces a defamation suit by the NIS.
Mr. Park Won-Soon, a human
rights lawyer and civil activist has been working for a non-government
organisation (NGO) recognised as a social enterprise by the government in
2007.
Some observers say that the
government has filed the suit to stop Park from becoming a new leader of the opposition camp, to
which the self-appointed "social designer" said, ``I never intended to become an
opposition political leader. Perhaps the government wants to raise me up
into one." Park said
many of his fellow lawyers had decided to form a group and fight with the
NIS. ``I only said that such (pressuring) practices were wrong. If what I
did constitutes defamation of the state, hundreds of thousands of
citizens may face the same charges daily."
For Koreans, Park is the icon of civic
activism. Born in 1956, Park grew up under military dictatorship in South
Korea. At the age of nineteen, he tasted the hard hand of the state.
Arrested for joining a political demonstration, he was imprisoned for
four months and expelled from his law course at Seoul National
University. Persevering, he passed the bar examinations in 1980 and threw
himself headlong into South Korea’s emerging democracy movement. He
became a human rights lawyer. Forgoing the rewards of a conventional
legal career, he took up the cause of political prisoners and victims of
media censorship, torture, and other authoritarian abuses.
He founded the People's
Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) in 1994 to reform politics
through grassroots efforts. In 2000, he launched the Beautiful Foundation
to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots through citizens'
voluntary sharing of wealth. In 2005, he opened the Hope Institute to
work out policy alternatives for a better Korea. He received the Ramon
Magsaysay Award for Public Service in 2006 for ``his principled activism
fostering social justice, fair business practices, clean government and a
generous spirit in South Korea's young democracy."
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
After the case was filed, Mr.
Park held a press conference on September 17 and provided details of the
allegations of the illegal operation by the NIS. They are as follows:
1. Local public relations
centre: The Ministry of Public Administration and Security and the Hope
Institute were under a three years bona fide contract, however, the
agreement was terminated in a year due to budget cuts. At the meeting of
the board members held after the termination of the contract, upon closer
examination of the termination of the contract and approved budget plans,
the amount assigned for the following year appeared to be greater than
the amount for the current year. After attempting to find out through
various channels, including attempting to ask the director and
vice-minister of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, and
even the secretarial office of Cheongwadae (the Korean presidential
residence) as to why such was the case, the response received was that
due to the fact that the decision was made at senior levels, they were
not aware of the details.
2. Hana Hope Foundation: The
government (The Ministry of Strategy and Finance & the Financial
Services Commission) and Hana Bank were, with the cooperation of the Hope
Institute in the midst of preparing funding support for small sized
companies, and Hana Bank decided to fold the business of the Hope Institute.
A few days later, it was announced that this business would be operated
with Donga-Ilbo, a newspaper. Around two months later, senior officers
from Hana Bank claimed that NIS officers started to intervene, and
cooperation with the Hope Institute officers broke down. Mr. Park also
heard this news via alternate avenues, and it became known that the NIS
had indeed played a significant role in the intervention.
3. Details of the
investigative inspection concerning Mr. Park and his associates:
a) One director of a
foundation reportedly told Mr. Park that "investigators from the NIS
were relentlessly questioning him for detailed information."
b) Mr. Park heard from a
person associated with a foundation that the NIS contacted the foundation
registered under his name and asked about his salary, his role etc. at
the organisation.
c) The NIS officers enquired
into the activities of Mr. Park outside the scope of his official work.
4. A series of illegal
inquiries by the NIS about Beautiful Store which is a social enterprise
working for vulnerable groups that Mr. Park used to work with:
1) A branch of Beautiful
Coffee Shop at a University: On April 2009, two days after the opening of
the coffee shop at the University, NIS officers came to the general
office of the University and asked as to why the university was
supporting Beautiful Store. In particular, they inquired more about why
the university supported the Beautiful Store providing money to a leftist
group and whose staff were former student activists.
2) A bank supporting the
Beautiful Store as a social activity: During June of 2009, an individual
claiming to be part of the NIS contacted a representative at the Bank and
asked "what kind of relations do you share with Beautiful Store for
you to provide such a hefty sum of money over a long period of
time?"
3) Mutual event in Gyeonggi
province for lifetime educational centre: In May 2009, a spectator at a
charity event meeting claimed that he "received a call from the NIS,
and asked to refrain from proceeding with Beautiful Store's
festivals."
In addition, Mr. Pak also
alleged that progressive organisations were taken off the government's
list of supported organisations, and the NIS pressurised senior
executives of a company to withdraw membership from it and further
demanded key public institutions not to engage in work with lawyers from
MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society. With these examples, he further
alleged that the NIS has systematically been involved in carrying out
inspections.
RECOMMANDED ACTION:
Please send a letter to the government authorities listed below, asking
them to ensure the withdrawal of legal action against Mr. Park and for an
investigation into the allegations of illegal activities of the NIS.
LETTER:
Dear _________,
SOUTH KOREA: Please
immediately drop defamation case against Mr. Park Won-Soon and
investigate the allegations of illegal activities of the NIS
Name of accused:
Mr. Park Won-Soon (54 years old), a lawyer, executive director of a
permanent committee of the Hope Institute, non-governmental organisation
Plaintiff: Republic of Korea by way of National Intelligence Service
(NIS)
Date & Case: 12
September, 2009; civil defamation
I am shocked to hear that the National Intelligence Service (NIS)
on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Korea has sued Mr. Park
Won-Soon for civil defamation on 12 September 2009 based on the remarks
he made during an interview in a weekly magazine.
According to the information received, during the interview, Mr.
Park alleged some examples of the NIS conducting inspections of private
personnel and organisations in violation of the NIS Act. After the
defamation case was filed, he held a press conference and offered more
examples how systematically the NIS has been involved in illegal
activities.
With regards to Mr. Park's case, I strongly oppose the defamation
case against any citizen in the territory by any government institution.
Whereas it is the first case ever that a government institution has sued
an individual for defamation in the Republic of Korea, a question still
remains as to whether the government can be a plaintiff as a legal
subject in this case. I would like to draw your attention to the fact
that the Commission on Human Rights, the former Human Rights Council as well
as Human Rights Committee and special procedures have already called for
the abolition of the offence of "defamation of the State" since
1999. A number of courts such as, in India, South Africa, the United
Kingdom, the United States and Zimbabwe have also refused to allow public
authorities to sue for defamation. Defamation lawsuits have been used in
countries with bad human rights records.
The allegations raised by Mr. Park include the termination after
a year of three-year bona fide contract with the Ministry of Public
Administration and Security due to a decision made by a higher authority;
NIS's illegal intervention to pressurise a bank to stop a project that
was supposed to work with the Hope Institute; NIS's illegal inquiry about
him through his associates such as his salary, his role and other
activities; NIS's illegal investigation into a university supporting
'Beautiful Store' that Mr. Park used to work with; NIS's illegal inquiry
about a relationship between a banker having supported and Mr. Park;
NIS's illegal pressure on an organiser of a charity event to refrain from
proceeding with Beautiful Store's festivals; NIS's illegal pressure on a
senior executives of a company to withdraw membership from Mr. Park's
organisation, and; NIS's illegal pressure on key public institutions not
to engage in work with lawyers from MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic
Society.
I urge you to immediately investigate allegations that the NIS
agents have indeed inspected him and his friends in violation of article
3 of the National Intelligence Service Act.
I also urge you to immediately drop the defamation case against
Mr. Park and investigate as to whether the agents of the NIS have acted
illegally so that those involved are properly prosecuted and punished in
accordance with law. If the case goes on, it will only demonstrate to the
international community that the limitation of the freedom of opinion and
expression in South Korea is getting worse, and how the existing law has
been arbitrarily used to attack individuals and organizations despite the
fact that the law and order has been reemphasized by the President
himself.
I further take this opportunity to remind you of the need for a
thorough and impartial investigation into the allegations of illegal
inspection and surveillance by several information agencies including the
NIS and Defense Security Command, which have reportedly increased.
Yours sincerely,
----
THE ADDRESSES :
1. Mr. Lee Myeng-Bak
President
1 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu
Seoul, 110-820
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Fax: +82 2 770 4751
Tel: +82 2 770 0018
E-mail: foreign@president.go.kr
or president@cwd.go.kr or president@president.go.kr
2. Mr. Lee Gui-nam
Minister of Justice
88 Gwanmon-ro, Gwachon-si
Gyonggi Province 427-760
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Tel: +82 2 503 7023
Fax: +82 2 2110 3079 / 503 7046
E-mail: webmaster@moj.go.kr
3. Mr. Kim Joon-gyu
Prosecutor General
Supreme Prosecutor's Office
1730-1, Seocho3-dong
Seocho-gu, Seoul
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Fax: +82 2 3480 2555
Tel: +82 2 3480 2000
THANK YOU.
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bservatory for Defence
Rights and attacks against lawyers
