| Koreans to Sue Jay Leno for Libel
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Tens of thousands of Korean people will
take legal action against Jay Leno, a well-known
American talk show host, claiming he insulted them
as well as their culture.
Leno has been
under fire in this country since he cracked a joke
last month about the Korean consumption of dog
meat during his ``Tonight Show,'' which is
televised by U.S. broadcasting giant NBC.
``We are preparing to file a libel suit
around late April in U.S. federal court,'' said
Mike Choi, the visiting chairman of the MCIC
Group, to The Korea Times yesterday. ``A group of
lawyers is reviewing the legal evidence. It will
be a class action.''
The Philadelphia-based
law firm has collected numerous opinions and
related materials on its homepage for two
weeks.
``We have already secured more than
27,000 plaintiffs on a voluntary basis, and we
welcome anybody hoping to join the suit,'' said
Choi, who has been practicing law for 20 years.
Several veteran attorneys-at-law are also involved
in the effort.
Although it is a rare case,
Choi expressed confidence in winning the legal
battle, saying, `` There is at least a 50 percent
chance of winning it.'' But he expected it to take
one or two years.
``The move is not simply
aimed at reparations, but also reversal of the
damage to Korea's image, like many other cases we
are now handling, '' he said.
Specializing
in business, legal and tax advisory services, the
MCIC has been handling the damage suits regarding
the Nogun-ri massacre during the 1950-53 Korean
War as well as forced labor by the Japanese
Imperial Army during World War
II.
Welcoming the move, some netizens
insisted that an American speedskater, Apolo Anton
Ohno, also should stand trial.
``After I
sent Ohno an e-mail and protested his unfair play,
I received an insulting reply. Many of my friends
received similar responses,'' read an Internet
message by a netizen who identified himself by an
alias Zzang. ``I will keep a close eye on whether
the U.S. will manipulate the result of the legal
action, as it did in the Olympics,'' the netizen
added.
Korean people have criticized Ohno,
claiming that he robbed Korean speedskater Kim
Dong-sung of a 1,500-meter gold medal in the 2002
Winter Olympics by using ``Hollywood-style
acting'' to exaggerate contact during one of the
final turns of the race.
Soon after, Jay
Leno openly supported Ohno, even commenting during
his program that the angry Korean skater might
have kicked and eaten his dog. Koreans have
previously shown strong sensitivity to foreign
criticism of their traditional culinary
practices.
Many local media have tried to
clarify Leno's stance on those issues ever since,
but he has been keeping mum. Instead, Carrie
Simons, Senior Press Manager of NBC
Entertainment's publicity department, sent a
letter to Korean network PBC, which said, ``By its
nature, comedy can be impolite, and humor on our
show is no exception. People can have different
opinions about where the lines should be drawn.''
( Unbelievably, the Korean
stance seems to be moving from the contemptuous to
the certifiably deranged!
Do they deny that
they eat dogs? No.
Are they aware that the
western world regards their "culinary" habits with
revulsion? Yes.
Can they seriously expect to be
viewed with better than derision when they have
displayed only contempt for the opinions of the
civilised world? We think not.
How can a joke
about Korean dog-eating result in "damage to
Korea's image" when they claim that they are proud
of this "tradition"? We don't know! Could someone
possibly explain? - ITD)
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| Korea Herald 23/03/02 |
By Lee Chi-dong
Staff Reporter
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