Japanese journalist denies defaming S Korean president Park Geun-hye

A trial has begun for a Japanese journalist charged with defaming South Korea's president by reporting rumours that she was absent for seven hours during the Sewol ferry disaster in April because she was with a man.

A spokesman from the Seoul Central District Court said yesterday that Tatsuya Kato of Japan's Sankei Shimbun was present in court as his lawyers and prosecutors introduced evidence. The charge of criminal libel could see him jailed for up to seven years.

The indictment has raised questions about South Korea's press freedom. Critics accuse South Korean President Park Geun-hye's conservative government of clamping down on journalists in an attempt to control her image, and Japan's government has formally voiced its "grave concern".

Prosecutors charged Kato last month over his August 3 article about Park's whereabouts on the day the Sewol ferry sank and killed more than 300 passengers, mostly teenagers on a school trip.

The article repeated rumours in the media and the financial industry about a relationship between Park and a former aide said to be married at the time.

Park's office has denied that she was with the former aide.