Not since 1993 had a Japanese journalist been investigated in South Korea. But this time it was not classified military intelligence that was allegedly divulged-but hearsay. On October 8th prosecutors charged Tatsuya Kato, until recently the Seoul bureau chief of the Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese right-wing daily, with defaming the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye. Mr Kato is currently banned from leaving the country. The source of the upset is an article which the Sankei published online on August 3rd. It speculated on the whereabouts of Ms Park on the day a ferry sank in April, claiming 304 lives. Many blame the deaths on a botched rescue operation. Rumours have spread that at the time Ms Park was out of contact for seven hours. Citing the Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's biggest daily, that mentioned but rather ridiculed the gossip, as well as reports circulating among stockbroking houses, Mr Kato suggested she was rumoured to have vanished for a tryst with a divorced man. The president's office staunchly denies this.
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