3
public welfare."
10
In Korea, defamation
11
is punished as a crime and an "unlawful act." The Criminal Act, Article 307,
punishes false defamation more severely than truthful defamation:
(1) A person who defames another by publicly alleging facts shall be punished by imprisonment
or penal servitude for not more than two years or by a fine not exceeding five million won;
(2) A person who defames another by publicly alleging false facts shall be punished by penal
servitude for not more than five years, by suspension of civil rights for not more than 10 years, or
by a fine not exceeding 10 million won.
12
The Criminal Act distinguishes between libel (written defamation) and slander (oral defamation). Slander is
prohibited by Article 307. Libel is proscribed by Article 309, which reads:
(1) A person who commits the crime of Article 307(1), by means of newspaper, magazine, radio,
or other publication with intent to defame another, shall be punished by imprisonment or penal
servitude for not more than three years or by a fine not exceeding seven million won;
(2) A person who commits the crime of Article 307(2), by the method described in Paragraph (1),
shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than seven years, by suspension of civil rights for
not more than 10 years, or by a fine not exceeding 15 million won.
13
The Criminal Act subjects libel to more severe punishment than slander on the ground that libel exerts a more
lasting and pervasive impact than slander does.
14
Defamation is justified when it is "true and solely for public
interest."
15
The Civil Code provides for defamation as a tort. Article 751 authorizes recovery of monetary
compensation for reputational injury:
(1) A person who has injured the person, liberty, or reputation of another or has inflicted any
mental anguish on another person shall be liable to make compensation for damages arising
therefrom;
(2) The court may order the guilty party to discharge the compensation in Paragraph (1) by
periodical payments, and it may order such guilty parties to offer reasonable security in order to
ensure his performance of such obligations.
16
Special rules are stipulated by the Civil Code for defamation. Article 764 allows the court, upon the
application of the injured party, to order the defamer "to take suitable measures to restore the injured party’s
reputation, either in lieu of or together with compensation of damages."
17
Among the "suitable measures"
recognized by Korean courts for the defamed person to take in defamation cases are retraction or correction of the
defamatory statements. In addition, replies to and apologies for defamation are accepted as suitable methods to
recover from injury to reputation under the Civil Code.
The limitation period for criminal actions for libel is three years for truthful defamation and five years for
false defamation. Libel of the dead has a three-year limitation.
18
The limitation period for libel actions under the
Civil Code is three years.
19
II. Judicial Interpretations
Convention