"Hate Comments on Every Park Suhong Article"... Turns Out to Be Sister-in-Law's Friend

6 Million Won Fine Sentence

A malicious commenter who wrote defamatory remarks about broadcaster Park Suhong was revealed to be a close friend of his sister-in-law, and it was recently disclosed that the commenter received a fine of 6 million won from the court.

Park Soo-hong appears as a witness in his older brother's trial
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Park Suhong's wife, Kim Daye, posted on Instagram on the 20th, "Do you remember the malicious commenter who used to spread false information maliciously on every victim article in the past?" She added, "After the lawsuit, it was revealed that the identity was ultimately a close friend of the sister-in-law, who is the defendant in the embezzlement case. The sister-in-law's friend was summarily indicted by the prosecution for defamation by spreading false information and was fined 4 million won."

"However, the sister-in-law's friend appealed this and the case proceeded to trial, resulting in the fine being increased from 4 million won to 6 million won. The defendant's claim was, 'I only trusted A (the sister-in-law) and Kim Yongho.' However, Kim Yongho applied to call A (the sister-in-law) as a witness in court and claimed, 'I trusted the reports from A (the sister-in-law) and her friend,' which is quite contradictory. In the end, they are shifting responsibility and blaming each other, which is not a good sight," she wrote.

The judgment document released by Ms. Kim states that the defendant was sentenced to a fine of 6 million won for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. It also includes that if the defendant does not pay the fine, they will be detained in a labor camp, calculated at 100,000 won per day. The sentence was handed down on the 10th.

Mr. A was brought to trial on charges of spreading false information about Park Suhong, such as claiming in a KakaoTalk group chat that "Park Suhong lived with a woman in the past." According to the prosecution, Mr. A left messages in the KakaoTalk group chat denying Park's claims that he and her husband embezzled funds, or alleging that Park lived with a woman during his broadcast appearances. The prosecution requested a 10-month prison sentence for Mr. A at a trial held on the 11th at the Seoul Western District Court, Criminal Division 9, presided over by Judge Kang Younggi. The final sentencing for Mr. A is scheduled for 10 a.m. on October 23.

Mr. A's husband, Park Mo (56), who is Park Suhong's older brother and was in charge of managing his younger brother's affairs, was found guilty of embezzling over 2 billion won of corporate funds and was sentenced to two years in prison in the first trial.