YouTuber Kim Eo-jun convicted of defamation, fined W20m

YouTuber Kim Eo-jun was found guilty in a first-instance ruling on charges of defaming former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae. The court determined that Kim's statements constituted false assertions of fact rather than mere opinion, and that he had made them repeatedly while aware of their falsity.

Judge Kang Gyeong-muk of the 14th Criminal Division of Seoul Northern District Court sentenced Kim on Tuesday to a fine of 20 million won ($13,300) on charges of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, including defamation. The court said Kim would be detained for labor if he failed to pay the fine, and that he had seven days to file an appeal.

Kim was indicted on charges of making false statements on six separate occasions between April and September 2020 — across radio broadcasts and YouTube — claiming that Lee had pressured Lee Cheol, then-head of Value Invest Korea (VIK) who was imprisoned at the time, to fabricate a tip that he had given money to former Yonhap News Agency president Yoo Si-min.

The court rejected the defense's argument that the indictment violated the principle of charging by indictment alone, ruling that "the defendant's statements constitute defamation through assertion of fact, not expression of opinion." It added that "from the perspective of an average listener, the statements would be perceived as a direct recounting of what the victim actually said, not as commentary."

The court also found that Kim had acted with defamatory intent and with awareness of the falsity of his statements. It noted that Kim "had ample opportunity to verify the contents of the recording through news reports and could have obtained the recording itself, yet repeatedly made statements about things that did not exist over a considerable period of time."

On sentencing, the court said "the number of offenses was not small, and the victim reported significant mental distress, reflecting poorly on the nature of the crime," while also noting that "some inappropriate aspects of the victim's reporting activities were taken into consideration."

Kim arrived at Seoul Northern District Court around 1:45 p.m. Tuesday but turned back upon seeing reporters waiting outside and entered through a different door. Dressed in a navy jacket, light blue shirt and jeans, he did not respond to questions about how he expected the verdict to turn out or whether he planned to make a statement.

Lee issued a written statement shortly after sentencing, saying the court had "brought down the hammer on Kim Eo-jun's lies and incitement through law and principle, even if only a fine." He added, "I will see this through to the end, even if it takes 10 years."