7 Key Members of Gyeonggomo Involved in 'Druking Manipulation' Fined in First Trial

'Deuruking' Kim Dong-won’s Younger Brother and 7 Members
Charged with Aiding Manipulation Crimes and Providing SIM Cards

Seven members of the Economic Co-Prosperity Group (Gyeonggongmo), involved in the 'Druking Comment Manipulation Case,' were sentenced to fines in the first trial. The Druking case refers to the incident before the 19th presidential election in 2017, where Kim Dong-won, using the pseudonym 'Druking,' and his associates manipulated public opinion on portal sites in favor of former President Moon Jae-in and the Democratic Party of Korea by using a macro (automatic input repetition) program called 'King Crab.'

Former Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was indicted on charges of conspiring to manipulate comments, is attending the continuation of the appellate trial held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on July 20, 2020. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

According to the legal community on the 26th, Judge Kim Han-cheol of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 17 recently sentenced seven key members, including Gyeonggongmo staff member A (49, female), who were indicted for aiding and abetting computer-related obstruction of business or violating the Telecommunications Business Act, to fines ranging from 1.5 million to 3 million won each.

The court stated, "The false and fraudulent information sent by the defendants was reflected in the statistics that rank comments on news articles. For the portal operator, the victim, this interfered with the provision of news services and the calculation of comment rankings," and added, "They abetted Druking Kim and others' manipulation of comment rankings and provided the organization with USIM chips made under the names of the defendants and their families, which is a serious offense." However, the court also noted, "They were not deeply involved in the manipulation but merely aided and abetted. It does not appear that they gained personal benefits from the crime."

Previously, former Governor Kim Kyung-soo of Gyeongnam Province was charged with conspiring with Kim's organization to manipulate public opinion using 'King Crab' from November 2016 to help the then Democratic Party presidential candidate Moon Jae-in win the election (computer-related obstruction of business). He was also charged with violating the Public Official Election Act for allegedly proposing the position of Consul General in Sendai, Japan, to Kim's side to continue manipulation until the local elections. Kim's side claimed that Druking acted alone and that no conspiracy existed, but the Supreme Court upheld the guilty verdict for computer-related obstruction of business and confirmed a two-year prison sentence. Kim received a confirmed three-year prison sentence.

At that time, Gyeonggongmo operated under a closed-tier system. The group chat rooms accessible varied according to the seven membership levels: 'Nobi, Dal, Open Earth, Hidden Earth, Sun, Galaxy, Universe.' Kim's younger brother, A, took on the role of managing the organization and funded it by making and selling soap. Other defendants helped sell soap or supported comment ranking manipulation activities by pressing the like and dislike buttons on portal news article comments. The organization also provided personal USIM chips to enable manipulation activities by switching accounts.

Most defendants, including A, appealed the first trial verdict. The prosecution also appealed against all defendants.