S Korean poet loses defamation suit

SEOUL: A South Korean poet once tipped for the Nobel Prize for Literature on Friday lost a defamation suit against a fellow writer who accused him, in verse, of sexual abuse.

Ko Un, an 85-year-old former Buddhist monk, was one of the country’s most respected contemporary poets until allegations of sexual misconduct against junior writers surfaced last year amidst the #Metoo movement.

One of those young writers was Choi Young-mi, who suggested the revered poet had a dark side in a poem titled "Monster" published in December 2017.

In it, Choi described sexual harassment she suffered at the hands of a poet named "En". "Don’t sit next to En/the poet ‘K’ advised me, a literary novice/He touches young women whenever he sees one," Choi’s poem begins.