The prosecution sought an 18-month jail term for a Japanese journalist accused of defaming South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday, a decision that sparked fury from Japan.

Prosecutors said that Tatsuya Kato, former Seoul bureau chief for Japanese right-wing paper Sankei Shimbun, intended to libel the South Korean president by reporting false rumors about her whereabouts at the time of the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April last year. 

Kato was indicted last October for running a column on Aug. 3, 2014 about rumors circulating online that the unmarried Park was absent for seven hours to privately meet her former aide, Jeong Yun-hoe, during the ferry disaster. The nation’s worst maritime accident killed more than 300 people, mostly students on a school trip. 

“Without any evidence that the rumors about Park’s relationship with a man were true, it seems like the accused intended to spread the rumors, pretending that it is for the public good,” prosecutors said in court. “The accused did not even try to verify the rumors.”

The court is expected to hand down a sentence for Kato on Nov. 26.
In his defense, Kato said that he did not have an intention to defame her. “I only meant to deliver objective reports on Korean politics and society as Japanese take great interest in President Park’s moves,” he said in final testimony. 

Kato’s lawyer argued the whereabouts of the president is a public matter and Kato wrote the column based on circulating rumors that were already published in the Chosun Ilbo, South Korea’s largest newspaper. The column in July last year questioned Park’s whereabouts on the day of the ferry sinking, triggering rumors that she might have been with a man at the time. 

“The Japanese government has strongly demanded the Korean government reasonably respond to the case from the perspective of bilateral ties and freedom of press, expression,” Yoshihide Suga, the spokesperson for the Japanese government said at a press briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday, voicing concerns and regret over the penalty sought for Kato. 

Sankei Shimbun also expressed astonishment and anger at the move, asking the Korean prosecution to make a ruling based on democratic values and “international common sense.” 

Reporters Without Borders urged the South Korean judicial system to refrain from imposing a jail sentence on Kato, calling it a “real threat” for journalists and viewing it as the government's desire to tighten controls on media.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)