LAWSUIT AGAINST MALICIOUS COMMENTER

[Anchor Lead]

A Korean-Japanese woman who has been facing discrimination and malicious verbal attacks in Japan has traced down her hater's social media account and filed a lawsuit. Japan's laws banning hate speech do little to prevent it.

[Pkg]

Choi Kang Ija is a victim of discrimination and hate speech in Japan, targeted because she is an ethnic Korean. Malicious remarks posted on social media outlets and other spaces on the Internet accuse her of pretending to be a victim and demand that she "go back" to her home country. Once, an envelope containing dead insects was delivered to her workplace. Early this year, she received assault threats, which prompted her to wear a security suit when she left home. The woman struggled to collect and share evidence and requested that her attackers delete their malicious posts, but it has done nothing to deter them.

[Soundbite] Choi Kang-Ija(Victim of hate speech) : "It's because I am a Korean woman. Telling me to go back to my home country is tantamount to telling me to disappear and denying my existence."

Choi traced down her attacker's blog and found it was run by a Japanese man in his 40s. She has filed a lawsuit against him. The man posted dozens of messages disparaging Choi and other ethnic Koreans on his blog and Twitter account over five years.

[Soundbite] Hajime Kanbara(Lawyer) : "The goal is to raise social awareness that discrimination is illegal and set a precedent."

Standing Japanese laws ban discrimination and local regulations in Kawasaki, where Choi resides, have done little to prevent hate speech.

[Soundbite] Choi Kang-Ija(Victim of hate speech) : "Even ethnic Korean children of the fourth and fifth generations are told to leave Japan just because they live here."

All eyes are on what decision Japan's judicial authorities will reach on persistent discrimination and hate speech against ethnic Koreans.