Malicious YouTuber “Sojang” Sentenced To Prison For Defaming IVE’s Wonyoung, BTS, And More

According to the latest reports, the infamous YouTuber Soajng (also identified by her real surname, Park) has been sentenced to prison for defamation against multiple celebrities.

The 36-year-old YouTuber was sentenced to two years in prison with three years’ probation by the Incheon District Court on Wednesday, January 15, KST. The court also ordered her to pay a fine of [krw] 210 million [.krw] and complete 120 hours of community service.

The Presiding Judge, Kim Sat Byeol, indicted Park under the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection Act for defaming seven celebrities and influencers on her YouTube channel. Her victims included  IVE‘s Wonyoung, BTS‘s Jungkook and V, and singer Kang Daniel.

Park became infamous in the K-Pop community for her videos spreading incessant rumors involving well-known celebrities. Between October 2021 and June 2023, she posted 23 such videos involving seven celebrities and influencers. According to the prosecution’s findings, she racked up a revenue of [krw] 250 million [/krw] from this channel in two years since June 2021.

While handing her the sentence, Judge Kim emphasized the severity of the defamation cases, pointing out that “the defendant repeatedly slandered famous celebrities and uploaded provocative content on her YouTube channel, making considerable profits. So, her guilt is grave.” However, the court also took into consideration that Park belatedly admitted to her mistakes and was reflecting on her actions. The sentence also took into account that Park had already paid ₩20.0 million KRW (about $13,700 USD) in damages to Wonyoung and a total of ₩60.0 million KRW (about $41,100 USD) to the other victims.

Meanwhile, the legal proceedings against Park started piling up only after Wonyoung’s legal representatives were able to track her down through an extensive procedure. Read more about it here.