A YouTuber who falsely claimed that Kim Hee-young, a board member of the TNC Foundation and the partner of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, was a Chinese spy has been fined 7 million won ($4,640) in a first-instance ruling.
Judge Kwon Min-jeong of the Seoul Eastern District Court's Criminal Division 6 handed down the fine Thursday against YouTuber Park Soon-hyuk, 55, who had been indicted on charges of defamation by false statement under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
"Given the nature of the medium, the potential for the content to spread is significant," Judge Kwon said, adding that the sentence took into account Park's confession and acknowledgment of wrongdoing, as well as his lack of any prior convictions for similar offenses.
Park, widely known by the nickname "Battery Ajeossi," faces charges of spreading false information on his YouTube channel last year, where he said Kim was highly likely to be a Chinese spy.
At the first hearing on June 11, prosecutors sought eight months in prison, arguing that Park had made "groundless statements that are difficult to accept by common sense and uploaded them online, reflecting poor conduct."
20ki@heraldcorp.com
