Chief prosecutor Chae Dong-wook said Thursday he will file for correction with the court against the Chosun Ilbo which accused him of having an extramarital son in its recent report.

The prosecutor general will forgo the extra step of mediation by the Press Arbitration Commission and take the case straight to the court for immediate resolution, said Koo Bon-seon, spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. Aside from filing the suit, Chae will also look into taking a paternity test as soon as possible to resolve any doubt.

The detailed process and method will be further discussed through a legal representative, Koo said.

Chae had asked the conservative newspaper in a letter on Monday to issue a correction of its report on Friday the previous week that he met a woman in 1999 and that they gave birth to a son in 2002.

The prosecution also separately requested a correction by the newspaper, and said it will also consider taking the case to the court if it continues to refuse to comply.

As the tit-for-tat escalated between Chae and nation’s largest daily, the 54-year-old woman identified by her surname Lim sent a letter to liberal newspaper Hankyoreh earlier this week explaining that her son was not Chae’s offspring and that she only used his name to protect the son as he grew older.

Chae and Lim reportedly became acquainted while she was running a bar in Busan in 1999 when Chae was serving there.

Chosun continued its accusation, claiming they also received the letter from Lim but that the authenticity of her story is questionable. It quoted unidentified sources as saying Chae had once frequented Lim’s bar almost daily.

Speculation has been rampant over the cause of the unusual collision between the newspaper and the chief prosecutor, with some citing the prosecution’s ongoing probe into the National Intelligence Service’s alleged political interference last year as an instigator.


By Lee Joo-hee
(jhl@heraldcorp.com)