2011-03-09 10:28:48

"Media should publish the full text of the letter and the names of the dead and let the people judge"

Lawyer Kim Yong-won (56), a representative of law firm Hanbyul, said on the 9th, regarding the controversy over the disclosure of the 'Jang Jang-nyeon list', "The people who received entertainment are all public figures with great social influence. It is absurd to say that it is a crime of defamation to disclose the truth about these public figures," he said, calling for their disclosure."

"It is a common example in advanced democracies that privacy is important for pure individuals, but for public figures with great social influence, the truth should be disclosed," Kim said in an interview with the peace broadcast 'Open World Today's Lee Seok-woo.<"In the case of the United States and Japan, such things are very clearly set forth as precedents and recognized as laws," he said, reiterating the need for disclosure.

"If it is true that Ms. Zhang Jiajiajie specifically named 31 people and left more than 50 handwritten letters, then the media or politicians who have it should disclose it all," he said, adding, "After disclosure, we should hear the true explanation from the parties. If you give them a chance to explain, some of them will be able to explain, some of them won't, and then we, the people, can judge. Let the people who were entertained decide who was entertained and how immoral the entertaining was," he said, reiterating his call for the full letter and the release of the names.

"The law of defamation has become a huge obstacle to the truth in our society," he said, emphasizing that "the law of defamation, as created by Supreme Court precedent, is a shield for the socially powerful, protecting the socially powerful."<"In my judgment, the investigation will not reveal anything more," he said, adding, "First of all, it has already been shown that the investigative agency does not have the will to investigate. "First of all, it has already been shown that they have no will to investigate." He criticized the prosecutor's office for not showing any willingness to investigate when the first Jang Jae-nyeon document became an issue. <"More fundamentally, there is also the legal issue of whether the people who were entertained can be criminally punished," he said, adding, "Ms. Jang is already deceased, and even if the people who were entertained admit that they were entertained, it is actually difficult to criminally punish them if they claim that they knew that Ms. Jang did it voluntarily for the sake of her career, that they were forced to drink, and that they did not know that it was an entertaining event." <"So, as an alternative, I think it's not a problem that should be left to the investigative agencies, but a problem that society should solve by itself, and I think it's possible," he said, urging the media to publish the full text of Jang's letter and the names of the people involved.

Kim is a former prosecutor who recently published a book titled "Is There a Prosecutor in Heaven?" that criticized the vested interests of prosecutors.