Prosecutors have asked a court to sentence a man in his 60s to one year and six months in prison on charges of spreading thousands of false claims about the Sewol ferry sinking, the Itaewon crowd crush and a passenger jet crash, and of repeatedly posting messages insulting the victims and their families.
Judge Kim Jin-sung of the Seoul Western District Court held the first hearing in the case on the morning of Oct. 12 and concluded arguments. The defendant, identified only by his surname Kim, 60, was indicted and detained on charges including defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.
Kim is accused of posting roughly 3,000 false messages on domestic online communities and his own blog between 2022 and March of this year, claiming that the Sewol sinking, the Itaewon crush and the Muan passenger jet crash had been fabricated and that there were no victims.
He also faces charges of damaging the reputations of victims and bereaved families by posting false claims that the Sewol disaster was a case of "marine insurance fraud" and that the victims did not actually exist.
Kim's side acknowledged at the hearing that he had posted the messages but argued he should be acquitted because he had no intent to defame. In his closing statement, Kim said, "Neither publicity nor intent has been established, and it has not been proven that I damaged the reputations of the victims or their bereaved families."
The prosecutor countered that "the causes of the disasters have been confirmed through judicial rulings and media reporting, and what the defendant claims has no basis whatsoever in fact," adding that "because he posted the messages despite knowing the relevant facts, constructive intent (dolus eventualis) is established."
The prosecutor also said the defendant "committed numerous offenses over a long period, the nature of the crime is grave, and he has not been forgiven by the victims," and asked the court to impose a sentence of one year and six months in prison.
Earlier, the Second-Victimization Crime Investigation Division of the National Office of Investigation under the Korean National Police Agency detained Kim, concluding that he had posted some 3,000 false and insulting messages related to social disasters over about four years beginning in 2022. Kim is the third suspect detained since the division was launched.
The first-instance verdict in Kim's case is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 10 a.m.