Prosecutors Freeze 200 Million Won of YouTuber's Assets for Defaming Jang Wonyoung and Profiting

The assets of a YouTuber who maliciously defamed celebrities including Jang Wonyoung (20) of the girl group 'IVE' by posting fake videos on her own YouTube channel and earned hundreds of millions of won in profits have been frozen.

The Criminal Division 1 of Incheon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Gonho) announced on the 24th that the court approved a pre-indictment seizure request on some of the assets of YouTuber A (35, female), who was recently indicted on charges of defamation and insult under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

The seized assets of A amount to approximately 200 million won, including real estate and deposit claims. Pre-indictment seizure is a measure to freeze assets to prevent the suspect from disposing of or transferring specific assets before the sentence is finalized, thereby ensuring the assets can be confiscated later.

Based on the court's decision, the prosecution plans to recover over 200 million won of A's criminal proceeds.

A was recently indicted on charges of defamation for posting 23 videos from October 2021 to June last year on her YouTube channel 'Taldeoksuyongso' that defamed seven celebrities and influencers.

She produced and distributed false videos claiming that "Jang Wonyoung was jealous and caused a fellow trainee's debut to be canceled," and that "other celebrities were involved in prostitution or had plastic surgery."

Analysis of the YouTube channel's account by the prosecution revealed that A earned 250 million won in revenue over two years starting from June 2021. During the investigation, A claimed, "The YouTube videos are merely expressions of opinion. They were produced for public interest matters."

A prosecution official stated, "We applied for pre-indictment seizure on the 9th and recently received approval. We will thoroughly recover the profits of fake news distributors who exploit victims as scapegoats to prevent similar crimes."