For the first time, a court has ruled that the state is liable to compensate cultural and artistic figures who were excluded from broadcasting and artistic activities due to the so-called 'blacklist' created by the National Intelligence Service during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
The Seoul High Court Civil Division 27-2 (Presiding Judge Seo Seung-ryul) ruled on the 17th that 36 cultural and artistic figures, including actor Moon Sung-keun, broadcaster Kim Mi-hwa, and film director Park Chan-wook, partially won their appeal for damages against former President Lee Myung-bak, former NIS Director Won Sei-hoon, and the Republic of Korea, just as in the first instance.
The court ordered, “The state, former President Lee, and former Director Won shall jointly pay each plaintiff 5 million won and the delayed interest on this amount.”
Previously, the first instance court did not recognize the state's liability for compensation, citing the expiration of the statute of limitations (5 years), but the appellate court overturned this and acknowledged the state's joint responsibility.
The court stated, “If illegal acts are continuously committed, damages should be considered to arise based on new illegal acts occurring daily,” and concluded, “This blacklist case also constitutes a continuous illegal act, and the statute of limitations for the claim has not been completed.”
This lawsuit began in September 2017 during the Moon Jae-in administration when it was revealed that the NIS operated a 'Leftist Celebrity Response TF' during the Lee Myung-bak administration, exerting pressure on critical celebrities and cultural figures through exclusion from broadcasting, blocking film support, and tax investigation intimidation. According to the investigation results of the NIS Reform and Development Committee, this TF was organized under the leadership of the then Chief of Staff from 2009, applying organized pressure for the expulsion of individuals critical of the government.
The TF list reportedly included a total of 82 individuals, including actors Moon Sung-keun, Myung Gye-nam, Kim Min-sun, Kim Yeo-jin, directors Park Chan-wook, Bong Joon-ho, Lee Chang-dong, broadcasters Kim Mi-hwa, Kim Je-dong, and singers Yoon Do-hyun, Shin Hae-chul, and Kim Jang-hoon.
In particular, 36 individuals, including Moon Sung-keun, filed a damages lawsuit in November 2017, claiming they suffered mental and material damages due to the government's organized exclusion, seeking 5 million won per person, totaling 180 million won.
This case was initially assigned to a single judge but was transferred to a panel due to the importance of the issues involved, and the first hearing was held in November 2019, two years after the filing of the complaint.
The first instance court in 2023 stated, “The act of public officials systematically managing a blacklist containing personal information of cultural and artistic figures is a clear illegality,” and ruled, “It abused public power for private purposes, threatening the right to survival and undermining the rule of law and the fairness of the state's cultural support.”
It further pointed out, “The victims at that time likely suffered prolonged distress under psychological pressure regarding the possibility of additional sanctions.”
This appellate ruling is the first case in which the state's direct responsibility regarding the blacklist incident has been acknowledged, and it is analyzed that it could serve as a legal standard for similar political exclusion cases in the future.
