Average 1,300 Defendants Annually for False Accusation Charges... Only 10% Referred to Prosecution Due to "Difficulty in Proof"

False Accusation Charges Often Arise in Political Controversies
Actual Punishments Rarely Follow
Strict Requirements for Establishment
Many Loopholes Due to No Punishment for Attempted or Negligent Offenses

Provided by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Recently, there have been many cases of false accusation charges filed regarding highly controversial incidents in the political sphere. However, it has been found that very few cases proceed from police investigations to the prosecution stage. There is an opinion that the requirements for establishing false accusation charges are stringent, making it difficult to lead to actual punishment.

False accusation charges continue to be filed, citing the risk that the accused may face unjust criminal punishment. On the 5th, 19-year-old YouTuber Yang Daerim, who had previously filed a complaint against President Moon Jae-in and others regarding the COVID-19 vaccine pass, filed a false accusation charge against Park Hong-geun, the floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. This was in response to Park’s filing a defamation suit against Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon for spreading false information. Yang stated, “All the statements cited by Minister Han in the constitutional dispute trial are consistent with the facts,” and claimed that the complaint was made to the investigative authorities with the intent to have Minister Han criminally punished by reporting false information.

False accusation charges also appear in the controversy over President Yoon Suk-yeol’s use of profanity. On the 30th of last month, civic groups such as the Minsheng Economic Research Institute submitted a complaint to the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters, accusing members and officials of the People Power Party’s MBC Biased and Manipulated Broadcast Truth Investigation Task Force (TF) of false accusation. They argued, “Anyone can understand the statements by listening to the MBC broadcast footage,” and claimed that “the content (TF members’ complaint against MBC) contradicts objective truth and constitutes a typical false accusation crime.”

Among the allegations against former People Power Party leader Lee Jun-seok in the sexual bribery scandal is a false accusation charge. In August, Kim Sung-jin, CEO of iKist, who claimed to have been sexually bribed, filed a false accusation charge against Lee. This was based on the premise that Lee’s defamation complaint against the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute (Gaseyeon), which raised the sexual bribery allegations, could constitute false accusation.

False accusation is a crime established when a person reports false information to investigative authorities with the intent to have another person subjected to criminal punishment. The purpose of punishing false accusation is to prevent the waste of investigative resources caused by false reports and to protect those who are unjustly reported. This is also confirmed in Supreme Court precedents. The Supreme Court explained false accusation as “a crime primarily protecting the proper exercise of the state’s criminal judicial power or disciplinary authority, while secondarily protecting individuals’ interests in not being unjustly punished or disciplined.”

However, there are not many cases that lead to actual punishment. According to the “Annual False Accusation Status in the Last 5 Years” received by Rep. Jung Woo-taek of the People Power Party from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, from 2018 to 2021, there were 4,583 cases of false accusation and 5,883 people apprehended. Among them, 613 were referred to the prosecution, and only 2 were detained. The rate of those apprehended for false accusation who were referred to the prosecution was about 13% by case and about 10% by person. From January to August this year, 819 cases and 846 people were apprehended. Statistics on referrals are not yet available.

The reason for this phenomenon is attributed to the stringent requirements for establishing false accusation charges. To punish false accusation, it must be proven that ▲ the reported content is false, ▲ the reporter is aware that the report is false, and ▲ the report was made intentionally. Additionally, sufficient objective data and evidence must support this, making it difficult to proceed to actual punishment.

There is also an opinion that the absence of provisions regarding attempted and negligent false accusation creates many “loopholes” for the accused to escape. Professor Im Seok-won of the Department of Marine Production System Management at Pukyong National University (Ph.D. in Law) stated in that “When interpreting false information in false accusation, if the fact corresponds to objective truth, even if the report content causes an error, it does not constitute false accusation,” and “Even if the false information contradicts objective truth, if the actor believed it to be objectively true and reported it with the intent to have the accused subjected to criminal or disciplinary action, the intent for false accusation is excluded, and thus false accusation does not apply.”