Victims Multiply Due to Fake News on Miryang Incident... "Suffering Grows from Unjust Harm"

Car Salesperson Immo Suffers from Fake News Damage

The personal information of the perpetrators involved in the Miryang group sexual assault case has been indiscriminately spread, and fake news continues to circulate, causing numerous victims unrelated to the incident.

A representative case is that of Mr. Lim, who worked as an official dealer of foreign cars. Mr. Lim expressed his frustration after being falsely identified as a perpetrator on various social networking services (SNS) and YouTube channels. On the 24th of last month, he posted on his blog, "I want to clarify my position as I am being misunderstood as involved in the unfortunate incident in Miryang," adding, "To prove my innocence, I am attaching my criminal and investigation record report." He explained, "The criminal and investigation record report includes all expired sentences, and submitting or posting it can result in imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won."

The criminal and investigation record report disclosed by Mr. Lim contained his name, resident registration number starting with 1986, and the information "No relevant data found." The issuance date was the 24th of last month. The criminal record report includes all prior convictions except summary judgments. This includes suspended prosecutions, suspended sentences, and dispositions under the Juvenile Act from types 1 to 4.

Mr. Lim lamented, "I resented myself for causing great pain to my family because of this incident," and said, "I kept crying whenever my two daughters ran out calling 'Dad'." He added, "At those times, my family, friends, and seniors and juniors all gave me great strength," and "Even the police officer who checked the report encouraged me by patting my back." Furthermore, Mr. Lim stated, "I have decided to take legal action against baseless rumors and malicious comments so that my family and I can return to our daily lives," and added, "I hope no one else suffers unjustly like me, and I will donate any fines exceeding my lawyer’s fees to the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center."

However, the YouTube channel ‘Miryang The Glory’ claimed to have a ‘court ruling document’ featuring Mr. Lim’s name. A court ruling document is a document that records the facts, reasons, and orders of a court’s judgment. However, this was confirmed to be fake news. It was not a court ruling document but a notification of non-prosecution. Mr. Lim reiterated, "I have never been tried or received a court ruling." He emphasized, "If it were a court ruling, I would not be listed as a suspect but as a defendant," and said, "Due to the manipulated content by the YouTuber, my family has been subjected to a witch hunt and still is."

Several reports citing ‘Miryang The Glory’ were published, but they were ultimately false. As indiscriminate disclosure of personal information related to serious crimes continues, concerns about the increase of additional victims are growing. In this regard, our publication apologized for not verifying the facts with Mr. Lim’s side in previous reports and for causing harm to Mr. Lim and his family.