A local daily reporter and a blogger were arrested for spreading false rumors about a TV announcer's personal life, prosecution officials said Monday, in yet another case of online libel leading to criminal charges.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office said the two face defamation charges for their online postings. They had claimed that Hwang Soo-gyeong, an announcer with state-run broadcaster KBS, was caught having an affair, and that her prosecutor husband was going to divorce her.

The couple had sought an official investigation on the source of the rumors in order to press charges. They filed a separate petition for compensation and correction from cable channel TV Chosun for reporting the rumors as factual news.

In May, Singer IU and her agency had pursued criminal punishment against internet rumormongers who said she was about to get married.  The parties reached a settlement last month on the condition that the man who started the rumors serve 200 hours of community service. (Yonhap News)