Malicious YouTuber “Sojang” Allegedly Attempts To Evade Criminal Charges
In the past few months, the malicious YouTube channel Sojang has received significant attention after being sued by IVE member Wonyoung and BTS‘s V and Jungkook. The creator behind the account, 35-year-old Park, has also been criminally indicted on charges of defamation and insult against multiple Korean celebrities.
On Monday, September 2, KST, during a court hearing of the criminal case, Park categorically denied the charges of defamation and insult she had been indicted with, though she admitted to making all 23 videos that were mentioned in the lawsuits. In her defense, Park claimed that the relevant statements in her videos didn’t constitute defamation as she believed them to be accurate and were expressing her personal opinions.
This defense argument is being considered an attempt to reduce her punishment. According to Article 70-2 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, individuals found guilty of defamation via public allegation of falsehoods can be punished by up to seven years in prison. However, there are legal precedents for charges being dropped against someone guilty of defamation if they had “considerable objective reason” to believe the claims to be true and if the allegation serves the public interest.
Park has been accused of posting 23 videos from October 2021 to June 2023, slandering multiple idols. Some of the claims made in her videos included claims of prostitution or plastic surgeries involving numerous celebrities. She made a whopping ₩250 million KRW (about $187,000 USD) from the videos. But prosecutors have frozen her assets worth ₩200 million KRW (about $149,000 USD). Park also owes Wonyoung ₩100 million KRW (about $74,600 USD) in damages as per a court order from January 2024, which she has refused to pay.
Stay tuned for more updates!
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