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Park sues journalists at U.S. paper

Prosecutors said yesterday they are looking into allegations that two reporters of a Korean-language newspaper in the United States defamed Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party’s leading presidential hopeful, after she recently sued them.

Park claimed in a complaint that the journalists who work for the Sunday Journal USA, a Los Angeles-based weekly magazine for the large Korean-American population, reported “false” rumors about Park’s personal life for wrongful purposes, according to the prosecutors.

The article dated June 15 alleged that Park had an affair with a late South Korean pastor and the two had children, the prosecutors said, adding the journalists also used derogatory terms about the lawmaker.

“The article is currently deleted from the newspaper’s Web site,” a prosecution official close to the investigation said. “We will promptly look into the charges.”

An e-mail to the Sunday Journal seeking comment bounced back. Repeated calls to the weekly seeking comment also went unanswered on Friday. Park’s brother-in-law is currently serving a prison term on a separate case of defaming the lawmaker by producing a false press release.

Yonhap