Ilbe Member Mocking Flood Victims with "Jeollado Odengtang Restaurant" Arrested

Ilbe members mocking the flood damage in Honam region including Gwangju./Photo by 'Ilgan Best Storage' site screen capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seul-gi] Individuals who mocked the victims of last month's flood damage in the Honam region by calling them "Odengtang" or ridiculed the loss of a six-year-old child's urn as "baby skate" have been apprehended.

The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 14th that they have detained and are investigating two suspects, A (20) and B (49), on charges of defamation for posting derogatory and mocking comments about the victims of the Honam heavy rain damage on far-right community sites such as Ilgan Best Storage (Ilbe) and other internet community sites in early August.

On the 8th of last month, A posted a comment referring to a child who died due to the heavy rain in the Jeonnam region as "a famous Odengtang restaurant that only uses freshly caught baby skate." Additionally, regarding the flooding damage at a columbarium in the Gwangju area, A posted mocking expressions targeting the flood victims, including phrases like "Gwangju misutgaru," "people lined up to eat misutgaru," and "secret ingredient of misutgaru."

B quoted a social network service (SNS) post related to flooding damage at a memorial hall in the Gwangju area and posted comments such as "Jeolla-do bone hangover soup restaurant."

Investigations revealed that both individuals, residing in Seoul and Gyeonggi respectively, committed these acts without any particular reason other than to disparage the Honam region and attract attention from site users.

The police are also investigating a case where about 20 people who left malicious comments online targeting the victims of the memorial hall flooding have been sued.