Five from broadcasting firm indicted in 'mad cow' report case

(ATTN: UPDATES with details in paras 5, 8-10)
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, June 18 (Yonhap) -- The prosecution indicted five employees at one of the
country's largest broadcasters Thursday on charges of defaming government
officials with a controversial report critical of the administration's decision
to resume U.S. beef imports last year.

Four producers and a script writer at MBC were indicted without physical
detention a year after Seoul's agriculture ministry filed a complaint with the
Supreme Prosecutors' Office accusing them of airing a biased report on the safety
of U.S. beef.
The creators of the much-disputed episode of "PD Notebook," aired April 29 last
year, defamed then-Agriculture Minister Chung Woon-chun and Min Dong-seok, former
negotiator on U.S. beef imports, by distorting facts, deliberately mistranslating
and exaggerating the threat of mad cow disease associated with U.S. beef, the
prosecution said.
The Lee Myung-bak government faced public backlash following an agreement with
Washington to lift almost all restrictions on U.S. beef, including the age of
butchered cattle, just two months after its inauguration in February last year.
The report played a pivotal role in touching off weeks-long street protests,
forcing the Lee administration to renegotiate detailed terms with Washington.
President Lee, then facing his lowest approval ratings since taking office,
publicly apologized twice over the controversy.
The government argues the local concerns over U.S. beef were largely fueled by
the investigative news program, which suggested that those who consume the meat
could contract the human form of the brain wasting illness and that South Koreans
were more vulnerable to the disease than Americans.
"Such distortions and seemingly deliberate mistranslation led ignorant viewers
into believing that they faced a large threat from mad cow disease," prosecutors
said. "As a result, the two government officials' social reputations were
severely damaged."
Producers of "PD Notebook" aired a public apology in July last year, admitting
they had mistranslated parts of an interview with an American purportedly
diagnosed with the human form of mad cow disease. They deny, however, the
prosecutors' accusation that they "deliberately" exaggerated or distorted the
facts.
Critics charge the clash between MBC and the authorities is part of the
government's overarching strategy to tame media outlets. MBC is considered to be
the more generally left-leaning among Korea's three top television networks.
South Korea stopped importing U.S. beef in 2003 because of cases of mad cow
disease in the U.S. In 2006, Seoul allowed only boneless beef from cattle under
30 months old.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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