"What’s Wrong with Satirical Videos of the President... Should They Be Treated as Serious Criminals?"

Kukhim Files Defamation Charges Against President Yoon

"Is creating and distributing a satirical video about the president such a serious crime to cause this much fuss?"

This was said by a civic group criticizing the police investigation into a manipulated video featuring President Yoon Suk-yeol, calling it a "probe to protect the president's feelings."

The Network for Freedom of Expression Against Hate and Censorship held a press conference on the 2nd in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul, claiming this and urging the police to immediately stop the related investigation. They also demanded that the People Power Party withdraw the complaint and that President Yoon express his intention not to seek punishment.

On the afternoon of the 2nd, in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the Expression Freedom Network Against Hate and Censorship (21jo.net) held a press conference condemning the police investigation into the creators and distributors of false videos about President Yoon Seok-yeol.
Photo by Yonhap News

They raised their voices, saying, "It is a farce in Korean society that a ruling party, which should take the lead in guaranteeing freedom of expression, files complaints against citizens for defamation of the president."

Son Ji-won, a lawyer from the nonprofit organization Open Net who attended the suspect's interrogation of a netizen who downloaded and posted the video on social media, argued at the press conference that defamation charges do not apply. Lawyer Son stated, "It is a satirical work based on the premise of fiction and a political and creative expression that humorously portrays a critical perspective on the president."

He added, "The citizen who was investigated felt fear of being treated like a political prisoner, put up the store they were running for sale, and changed their SNS account," and said, "I believe the government and ruling party filed the complaint to send a message to the public that even minor expressions that encourage critical public opinion about the president can be punished by public authority."

Earlier, this citizen posted a satirical video titled 'A Virtual Confession Speech of President Yoon Suk-yeol's Conscience' on their SNS. The video was a montage of TV speeches President Yoon made during the 2022 presidential election campaign, edited to appear as if he was confessing that the current administration is incompetent and corrupt. Afterwards, the citizen received a call from the police asking them to come in for questioning on suspicion of defaming the president.

The police received a complaint from the People Power Party and identified a man in his 50s who originally created the satirical montage video of President Yoon and nine others who posted the video online. They are currently investigating them on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Regarding this matter, Choi Seok-gun, a lawyer at the Public Interest and Human Rights Litigation Center of the Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), also criticized, saying, "The person investigated just downloaded and posted the video on SNS because they thought it looked fun," and added, "I don't know how this is different from the 'Makgeolli Security Law' in the 1970s when people were punished for insulting President Park Chung-hee while drinking Makgeolli."

Earlier last month, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Jo Ji-ho said about the matter, "We have identified the creator of the false video of President Yoon and booked him on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act," adding, "The video creator is a man in his 50s living in the region, and he said he was working for a specific political party. We cannot disclose which party it is."