Kim Se-eui fined 5 million won over replica gun possession, insult charges

Kim Se-eui, head of the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, received a fine on appeal for illegally possessing a replica firearm and insulting attorney Kang Yong-seok.

The Criminal Appeals Division 5-2 of the Seoul Central District Court — presided over by judges Kim Yong-jung, Kim Ji-seon and So Byeong-jin — fined Kim 5 million won ($3,310) on charges of violating the Firearms and Explosives Control Act and criminal insult, according to Newsis on Wednesday.

The court consolidated two insult cases and one firearms law violation for the appellate hearing. Kim had been fined 2 million won ($1,325) in each case at the trial court level, bringing the total to 6 million won ($3,970).

Investigators found that Kim had purchased a replica firearm at a survival gear store in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in October 2021 and kept it at his office.

The item was recognized as a replica firearm on the grounds that it closely resembled an actual gun and posed a significant risk of being misused for criminal purposes.

Kim was also fined 2 million won ($1,325) at trial on separate insult charges stemming from remarks he made during a YouTube broadcast in December 2023. He said of attorney Kang, "He must be sent to prison no matter what," and called him "trash beyond imagination."

Meanwhile, Kim was detained on charges of claiming through press conferences and YouTube broadcasts that actor Kim Soo-hyun had dated the late Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, and that pressure from Kim Soo-hyun's side to repay debts caused her death. The alleged statements were made between March and May last year.