Man convicted of stalking woman he met in 'League of Legends' after 400 contacts

A man in his 20s has been convicted of stalking a woman he met through an online game after contacting her hundreds of times following her rejection of his romantic advances.

Judge Ko Beom-jin of Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 2 sentenced A, 29, to six months in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of violating the Stalking Punishment Act, the court announced Tuesday.

A was indicted on charges of contacting the victim, identified as B, roughly 400 times between March and August last year after she blocked him on KakaoTalk. He used the app's gift-sending feature to send her presents and demand conversation despite the block.

When a user blocks someone on KakaoTalk, the blocked party can still send gifts through the app's gifting function, which triggers a notification to the recipient reading, "A friend you've blocked has sent you a gift."

The two had met as teammates in "League of Legends" and occasionally played together. Investigators found that A repeatedly pressed B for a romantic relationship even though he was seeing another woman at the time.

Judge Ko said aggravating factors included that "the victim appears to have suffered considerable anxiety and mental distress." He added that the sentence took limited account of A's full admission of the charges and his court deposit made on the victim's behalf.