The court ruled clauses in the Newspaper Law seeking to restrict the circulation of the three major conservative dailies -- which also include the JoongAng Ilbo -- are against the Constitution. Provisions in the Press Arbitration Law that compel newspapers to publish corrections without a court order are also not in line with the Constitution, or “unconformable”, the court found. “Corrections should be made only when a formal court ruling proves the original report to be false,” it reasoned.

The court struck down Article 17 of the Press Law, which stipulates that any three dailies with a combined market share over 60 percent are monopolies under the Fair Trade Law. It also rejected Article 34 Clause 2 of the law, which excludes such dailies from benefits under the Newspaper Development Fund. “Considering that other ordinary businesses are defined as monopolistic when any three command more than a 75 percent combined share of the market, the article violates the right to equality of newspaper companies,” the bench said. “When they are excluded from benefits just because they have a larger circulation, which merely shows readers’ preference for them, it constitutes unfair discrimination.”

The court also struck down Article 26 clause 6 of the Press Arbitration Law, which allows orders for correction without a formal court ruling. “Forcing newspapers to publish corrections of reports just because there are calls that they may be incorrect without a formal court ruling prevents them from swiftly reporting on important social issues, thus effectively stopping them from performing their public function,” it said. But the court let stand Article 14 Clause 2 of the law, which says corrections can be ordered whether any inaccuracy was intentional or accidental.

Article 15 Clause 3 of the Newspaper Law, which stipulates that an individual who owns more than half of one daily cannot own more than half of another, is also unconformable but will remain in effect until the law is revised, the bench ruled. “Ownership of more than one newspaper can promote diversity of the media, and when it is completely banned, it excessively restricts the freedom of newspapers,” it said. But Article 15 Clause 2 of the law cited in the petition, which bans dailies from running news agencies or broadcasters, was found constitutional.

The court dismissed a number of points in the petition.

The Chosun Ilbo says it cannot accept the court’s decision on corrections regardless of whether incorrect reports are written by mistake or on purpose, and on the establishment of a government-funded newspaper circulation system. It hopes the articles will eventually be revised or scrapped.

(englishnews@chosun.com )