A local court on Friday dismissed a Japanese reporter’s request to suspend an overseas travel ban imposed on him by the Justice Ministry.

The Sankei Shimbun’s former Seoul bureau chief, Tatsuya Kato, had been indicted for defaming President Park Geun-hye in a story, citing rumors in the stock brokerage industry.

The Japanese newspaper, in its Aug. 3 online edition, alleged that Park had been outside the presidential office at the time the Sewol ferry capsized, with a man seen to be one of her key advisers.

Kato has been accused of publishing groundless information in a vicious manner and was banned from leaving the country in August last year. The travel ban was renewed for another three months by the Ministry of Justice last month. Last week, Kato filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court to get the ban canceled.

In a statement, the Sankei Shimbun claimed that it had referred to statements from the National Assembly and a column in a Korean newspaper. Kato earlier said he hoped that “the trial in Korea, which is governed by law, would proceed strictly according to law and evidence.”

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)