Reporter Who Wrote About 'Ju Haknyeon's Prostitution Allegation' Denies Charges... "I Got Confirmation from Cha Ga-won"

[Financial News] A reporter indicted on defamation charges for reporting allegations that former THE BOYZ member Ju Haknyeon had engaged in prostitution denied the charges at his first trial.
At the first hearing on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., held on the 22nd before Criminal Division 7 of the Seoul Western District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Tae-young, reporter Choi, 40, acknowledged publishing the article but pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to prosecutors, Choi is accused of defaming Ju by publishing an article on June 18 last year to the effect that "after specific evidence was presented, he was eventually reported to have admitted to prostitution," even though Ju had neither engaged in prostitution nor admitted to doing so to his agency.
Choi's side claimed that it had gone through a fact-checking process before writing the article. Choi's attorney said, "Although we did not disclose this during the investigation, we fact-checked it with Chairman Cha Ga-won of the victim's agency before publishing the article." The defense also argued that the publication constituted a legitimate act carried out in the course of the reporter's journalistic duties.
The article written by Choi stated that Ju met Kirara Asuka, a former Japanese adult-video actress, in Tokyo last May and engaged in prostitution before admitting it to his agency. Ju and Kirara Asuka each denied the prostitution allegations, and Ju filed a complaint against Choi, claiming that the report was false.
Prosecutors requested that three people, including Ju and Chairman Cha, testify as witnesses. The court will question Ju and others on November 12, while the remaining witnesses, including Chairman Cha, will be questioned at later hearings.
Meanwhile, Chairman Cha has been indicted while detained on separate fraud charges involving roughly 30 billion won and is awaiting trial.
[email protected] Choi Seung-han Reporter