A 40-year-old YouTuber who broadcasted and identified an innocent man in his 20s as 'Gaksital,' suspected of deliberately causing the Itaewon disaster, was sentenced to a fine in the first trial. The victim had been identified as Gaksital by the YouTuber after attending a memorial rally for the victims of the Itaewon disaster.
On the 21st, Judge Park Irang of Suwon District Court Criminal Division 14 sentenced YouTuber A, who was indicted for defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., to a fine of 5 million won. A is accused of pointing to a man in his 20s, B, as 'Gaksital,' who was suspected of deliberately causing the Itaewon disaster, on his YouTube channel on November 6, 2022, to defame him.
In the broadcast, A showed photos and speech videos of B for over an hour, saying expressions such as "He is presumed to be almost identical to Gaksital," "A person who looks very similar appeared on this broadcast, revealing his face," and "It's shocking."
B is known to have attended the 'Itaewon Disaster Victims Memorial Citizens' Candlelight Rally' near Seoul City Hall Station a day before A's broadcast and made remarks criticizing the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
The court stated, "It is reasonable to view that identifying the victim as Gaksital, who was suspected of deliberately causing the Itaewon disaster, without sufficient evidence or verification, exceeded the limits of freedom of expression on matters of public interest and damaged the victim's honor." It also pointed out, "Once conspiracy theories and fake news spread, it is very difficult to fully recover from the resulting damage," adding, "Sometimes they leave wounds as deep and lasting as the disaster itself."
After the Itaewon disaster, suspicions were raised on social networking services (SNS) that two men wearing Gaksital masks spread avocado oil on the road to make the ground slippery and signaled people to push others with a danso (a Korean flute). The Special Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency investigated these suspicions and confirmed that they were not true.
After receiving a summary order from the court imposing a fine of 5 million won for the broadcast, A requested a formal trial, claiming, "The broadcast content was not false and there was no intent to defame." However, the court rejected his claim, stating, "The victim is not the man wearing the Gaksital mask, and the two men wearing the Gaksital mask did not deliberately cause the Itaewon disaster, so the facts stated by the defendant are false." The court also noted, "The defendant made statements that could seriously damage the victim's honor without attempting to verify the truth."
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