YouTuber who spread false claim that 900,000 barrels of oil went to North Korea referred to prosecutors

A woman in her 60s who runs a YouTube channel has been referred to prosecutors on charges of spreading false information claiming that 900,000 barrels of crude oil had been smuggled to North Korea.

The woman told police she had posted the video to her own YouTube channel after watching a broadcast by "Jeon Han-gil News," according to authorities.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Cyber Crime Investigation Unit announced Tuesday that it had arrested the channel operator, identified only as A, and referred her to prosecutors without detention on charges of violating the Framework Act on Telecommunications. A had posted content in March claiming that "approximately 900,000 barrels of crude oil from the Ulsan petroleum reserve had been transferred to North Korea" — disinformation that spread as international oil prices rose amid the fallout from the US-Iran conflict in the Middle East.

Police said A reproduced the false information on her own channel after watching "Jeon Han-gil News," a YouTube channel run by Jeon Han-gil, a former Korean history instructor.

Jeon had previously claimed on his YouTube broadcast: "The route has been revealed showing that an enormous 900,000 barrels of oil crossed the West Sea to China. We can't know for certain whether it then went on to North Korea, can we?"

In March, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Kim Jung-kwan filed a complaint against Jeon on charges including defamation through false statements and obstruction of business through the spread of false information. Police are also investigating Jeon as a suspect in the case.

"We will fully protect the freedom of expression of the public, while strictly investigating in accordance with the law the malicious and blatant production and spread of disinformation that causes social disorder," a police official said.