A lower court on Thursday upheld the military’s ban of “seditious” books including bestseller “Bad Samaritans” which criticizes free market economics.

In 2008 the Defense Ministry blacklisted 23 books which it deemed could negatively affect soldiers’ morale. Publishers and writers filed a suit demanding 190 million won in damages.

The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday ruled the decision as lawful and recognized the administration’s autonomy to prohibit some books to protect soldiers’ morale.

“Under the military code of conduct, service members are banned from reading and possessing books, pictures and other forms of printed materials if the content is considered seditious by the defense minister,” Judge Lee Woo-jae said.

He dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim that the prohibition was an infringement of freedom of the press and basic rights.

The complainants included the publisher of Cambridge University economics professor Chang Ha-joon’s “Bad Samaritans,” published in 2007 and selling over 550,000 copies so far. The ministry criticized it as “anti-capitalist.”

He noted that the measure was taken for soldiers, a very specific group of people, rather than the general public.

“The administration has the autonomy to protect the morale of service members with its own guideline,” he said adding that the banning does not infringe on their rights.

In 2010, the Constitutional Court ruled the military authorities’ prohibition constitutional.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)