Court acquits man who called May 18 uprising a 'riot' on appeal, ruling post was opinion, not fact

The Daegu District Court's Criminal Appeals Division 2-3, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Sang-gyun, on Friday overturned a lower court ruling and acquitted a man in his 40s, identified only by his surname Kim, who had been charged with violating the Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement for describing the uprising as a riot in an online post.

The lower court had sentenced Kim to a fine of 1 million won ($742).

According to Yonhap, Kim was indicted after posting a message on Ilgan Best Jeojangso, commonly known as Ilbe, from his residence in Dong-gu, Daegu, on May 19, 2021. In the post, Kim wrote that the May 18 Democratization Movement was a riot, arguing that taking up arms constituted a riot, that the military was justified in suppressing it, and that many police officers and soldiers had also died at the time. He added that he could not understand why participants were recognized as democracy movement contributors.

The court said that while Kim's conduct deserved condemnation, describing the event as a "riot" should be seen as an expression of opinion rather than a statement of fact, and acquitted him on those grounds.