Court Grants Suspended Sentence to 40s Woman Who Revealed “Boyfriend of 5 Years Was Actually the Father of Her Child”

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The court postponed sentencing for a woman who was prosecuted after exposing her lover, with whom she had been dating for five years while hiding the fact that he was a married man with children, online.

Although defamation should be punishable under current law even if the facts are stated, the court showed leniency considering the circumstances.

According to the legal community on the 30th, Judge Park Young-soo of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 13 single judge court postponed sentencing with a fine of 500,000 won for A (46), who was indicted for defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Judge Park stated, “It is reasonable to see that the victim’s honor was damaged by A posting the above text,” acknowledging the establishment of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

However, Judge Park added, “Considering the relationship between A and the victim, the circumstances of the crime, the content of the post by A, and the fact that A is a first-time offender, the sentencing is postponed.”

Sentencing postponement is a ruling that suspends sentencing when a relatively minor crime is committed and a sentence of “imprisonment or detention for one year or less, disqualification, or a fine” is imposed, taking into account the relationship with the victim, motive for the crime, and circumstances after the crime.

After receiving a suspended sentence, unless a sentence of disqualification or higher is confirmed or a prior record of disqualification or higher is found, the case is considered dismissed after two years.

A learned in 2018 that B, her lover of five years with marriage in mind, was a married person. She also found out that the child she had been told was “her younger sister’s child” was actually B’s own child.

Angry at having been deceived all this time, A accessed the Naver mountain club band that B had joined and posted a message exposing the past events under B’s chat name.

In the post, A wrote, “Despite deceiving even my parents and living a hypocritical and disgusting double life, he shamelessly tries to fabricate words to blame me.”

Eventually, A was summarily indicted with a fine for defaming B through the internet, and she appealed and requested a formal trial.

Meanwhile, Article 307 (Defamation) of the Criminal Act stipulates in paragraph 1 that “Anyone who publicly defames another person by stating facts shall be punished by imprisonment or detention for not more than two years or a fine not exceeding 5 million won,” meaning that even if the published facts are true, criminal punishment such as imprisonment is imposed if another’s honor is damaged.

Also, Article 70 (Penalty) of the Information and Communications Network Act, which punishes defamation acts using the internet or social networking services (SNS) such as KakaoTalk or Facebook, stipulates in paragraph 1 that “Anyone who publicly reveals facts through an information and communications network with the purpose of defaming a person and damages another person’s honor shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine not exceeding 30 million won,” also punishing defamation by stating facts.

Currently, the Constitutional Court is reviewing the constitutionality of the Criminal Act provisions that punish defamation even when true facts are stated.