Former Seongnam Mayor Eun Soo-mi and others, who were put on trial on charges of defaming a whistleblower who raised corruption allegations, have been ordered to pay tens of millions of won in damages to the whistleblower.
The Supreme Court's Second Division (presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) said on the 25th that it finalized a lower court ruling partially in favor of plaintiff A in a damages lawsuit filed against Seongnam City, former Mayor Eun, former public relations secretary B, and others on the 24th.
The total amount A will receive is 50 million won. Seongnam City and former Mayor Eun must jointly pay 25 million won, and Seongnam City and B must jointly pay 25 million won.
A worked as a secretary at Seongnam City Hall from September 2018 to March 2020. A filed public-interest reports alleging corruption related to former Mayor Eun, including "biased hiring from the Eun Soo-mi campaign" and "leak of police investigative materials."
Then public relations secretary B sent text messages to reporters stating, "During A's tenure, A hurled abusive and profane language at public officials," and "A's duties were civil complaints counseling and security, but A engaged in surveillance and recording." Related details were reported by the media.
Seongnam City's personnel administration division distributed a press release stating, "Recently, weaknesses have been revealed, such as job duties on work-experience certificates for term-based public officials being listed differently from the job category at the time of hiring, so we will improve the certificate issuance system." After that, the work-experience certificate A obtained listed only civil complaints counseling and security. External cooperation, which A actually handled, was omitted.
A then filed a damages lawsuit, saying Seongnam City, former Mayor Eun, B, and others defamed A or infringed on A's personality rights.
In the first trial, the court found that former Mayor Eun should be deemed to have approved or been briefed on the change to the work-experience certificate issuance system and recognized liability for damages. It also determined that B committed defamation that impaired the objective evaluation of A. Although former Mayor Eun's side appealed, the appellate court dismissed the appeal, finding no error in these determinations.
Former Mayor Eun, in collusion with former policy aide Park, was indicted on charges of granting an improper favor in return for investigative convenience from police officers who were investigating alleged violations of the Political Funds Act and the Public Official Election Act in October 2018. A two-year prison sentence was finalized in September 2023, and a special pardon was granted on Nov. 15.