Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon filed a defamation suit against former ruling party lawmaker and attorney Kang Yong-seok for spreading rumors on his son’s alleged military draft dodging, sources said Sunday.
This is the first lawsuit raised by Park on behalf of his son Park Ju-sin, 29, against Kang, who has for years claimed the son fabricated medical records to dodge the mandatory military service.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon (left) and lawyer Kang Yong-seok Yonhap
According to legal sources, Park filed for indemnification for damages worth 110 million won ($95,400) with the Seoul Central District Court.
Park reportedly claimed that Kang “was consistently distributing false facts that myself and my son committed irregularities pertaining to the military service or that we have evaded conscription through illegal means.”
He went on to say that such allegations have been confirmed false by the prosecution, the court and other state organizations and that he was seeking compensation for defamation and violation of personal rights.
Park Ju-sin’s military service has been a constant subject of debate between the senior Park and conservative critics, leading to scores of legal suits and reexamination of the junior Park’s medical records.
Park Ju-sin joined the Air Force in 2011, but was sent home four days later after suffering pain in his legs. The son was released from active duty after the Military Manpower Administration found him unfit due to a herniated disc.
Park was specifically taking issue with comments made by Kang since June on several cable television programs that “suspicions surrounding Joo-sin remain unsolved.”
In 2012, Kang claimed Park’s son fabricated his medical records to evade military service and publicly demanded another physical examination. Kang later resigned from his lawmaker’s seat when the Severance Hospital confirmed the same year that Park Ju-sin had the herniated disc and that it was a valid reason for his exemption.
Park has filed defamation suits against 16 Internet users who raised draft-dodging rumors, some of whom Kang is defending as an attorney.
A medical expert in radiology who had raised similar suspicions against Park Ju-sin is currently on trial.
From news reports
