By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Korean American professional golfer Christina Kim (Kim Cho-rong) filed a one billion won ($670,000) suit against the JoongAng Sunday, a sister paper of the JoongAng Ilbo, for defamation and libel.
The player’s attorneys claimed that the newspaper’s series of articles portrayed the once-dual citizenship holder and now American citizen as a ``traitor.’’
According to Jeon Sei, the law firm that filed the suit with Seoul Central District Court on behalf of Kim last Friday, the JoongAng printed two articles on Kim in a Dec. 18 2008 edition based on false information.
Kim was reported to have complained to the management of LPGA Hana Bank/KOLON Championship 2008 in Yeongjongdo, Gyeonggi Province, because she was introduced as ``Christina Kim from Korea.’’ The paper also said Christina told some press members that her winning the tournament in Korea could be an act of ``vengeance.’’
The article further claimed that she has golfed poorly ever since then, and that no Korean sponsor will be willing to support her after all the fuss. ``She wouldn’t want to be related to Korea anymore since she knows acting Korean wouldn’t do her any good. There are more compatible players out there, meaning there’s less of a chance for her to grab Korean sponsors anyway’’ it said.
Kim’s attorneys refuted the claim. Lawyer Han Sang-hyeok claimed that Kim made no complaints at the tournament. ``She has no harsh feeling about being called Korean because she understands that it means a lot to her family,’’ he said.
He also said the exact word mentioned in the official LPGA interview was ``vindication,’’ which does not imply revenge but ``proves that you were right to do something when other people had different opinions.’’
Han claimed the newspaper article has caused great stress to the young player. ``Kim had dual citizenship, meaning she could be both Korean and American. Based on the fact that she was familiar with American culture should not to be severely criticized as unpatriotic behavior,’’ he said.
``Golf players are those living by love and support from people. The articles have triggered people to circulate numerous malicious online articles about Cho-rong. The paper company should publish a correction about the report,’’ he added.
Kim has been considered a controversial player in Korean golf circles after choosing American citizenship in 2005 over Korean after a grand debut that was welcomed by numerous Korean netizens longing for another ethnic Korean golf queen.
Kim appeared in a Korea-Japan golf tournament in 2004 playing for Korea, and her citizenship choice triggered antipathy on Web sites toward ethnic sports players who play with foreign citizenship under Korean sponsorship.