[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Kim Dong-won, known as 'Druking,' who was sentenced to three years in prison for manipulating comments targeting the 19th presidential election, has completed his sentence and been released.
According to the legal community on the 20th, Kim was released on the same day from the Gyeonggi Yeoju Prison after serving his full term. Typically, prison releases at the end of a sentence occur at 5 a.m., but the prosecution reportedly ordered his release the day before considering that the 20th was a weekend.
Earlier, Kim was indicted for manipulating comments using the macro (automatic input repetition) program 'King Crab' from late 2016 with the aim of electing the Democratic Party candidate in the 19th presidential election. In February last year, the Supreme Court finalized a three-year prison sentence. Kim was also sentenced to six months in prison with a one-year probation for conspiring with one of his associates, lawyer Do Doo-hyung, to illegally provide 50 million won in political funds twice to the late former lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan and for fabricating related evidence to conceal this (violation of the Political Funds Act).
Meanwhile, the trial of Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, who is accused of ordering large-scale comment manipulation involving Kim and others, is still ongoing. The final judgment by the Supreme Court is pending. The previous second trial sentenced Governor Kim to two years in prison for comment manipulation but did not order his immediate detention in court.
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