70-Year-Old Fined for Distributing Fake Photo of Lee Jae-myung Wearing Prison Uniform

Incheon District Court, 1 Million Won Fine for Violation of Public Official Election Act
300 Defamatory Printed Materials Distributed Ahead of General Election

Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was fined for distributing a fake composite photo showing him wearing a prison uniform.

The Criminal Division 13 of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Jang Woo-young) sentenced Mr. A (70), who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act, to a fine of 1 million won, according to Yonhap News Agency on the same day.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly on the 20th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Mr. A was tried on charges of distributing 300 printed materials containing defamatory content against Lee and the Democratic Party of Korea at churches and other places in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, from February to March before the general election. The printed materials included a fake photo with Lee’s face composited onto a body wearing a blue prison uniform, along with the phrase, "The Democratic Crime Party itself is a criminal cartel group rarely found in any country in the world." Previously, Mr. A had a criminal record from 12 years ago in 2012 for copying and distributing a newspaper article titled "'Vote for the (Democratic) United Party (the predecessor of the Democratic Party of Korea) and go to the People's Paradise," with inciting writings before the general election.

During the trial, Mr. A admitted to distributing the printed materials but claimed, "I was concerned about the country falling into chaos and intended to inform the public of the accurate facts," adding, "I did not know it was illegal." However, the court did not accept Mr. A’s claim. Based on Mr. A’s statements during the prosecution investigation, the court concluded that he was aware of the illegality at the time of the offense.

The court explained, "The defendant stated during the prosecution investigation that he knew the act was prohibited by the Public Official Election Act but distributed the printed materials out of frustration," indicating "awareness of illegality." Regarding sentencing, the court said, "The number of printed materials distributed by the defendant was not small, and the distribution area was extensive, so the culpability is not light," but also considered "that the offense did not have a significant impact on the election results."

Meanwhile, in May, a man who composited the faces of Lee Jae-myung and Democratic Party lawmaker Jeong Cheong-rae (then a senior party member) onto a copyrighted painting of General Yi Sun-sin and posted it on social networking services (SNS) was also sent to the prosecution. On May 24, the Jungnang Police Station in Seoul announced that it had sent Mr. B, a man in his 40s suspected of violating copyright law, to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office without detention.

Mr. B, known as a supporter of the Democratic Party, is accused of illegally copying images of Generals Yi Sun-sin and Kim Eok-chu from the comic "Yi Sun-sin Saga," compositing the faces of Lee and Jeong onto them respectively, and posting them without permission on his Facebook page. The original author of the comic, Mr. C, filed a complaint with the police against Mr. B for copyright infringement in August last year. At that time, Mr. C said, "What is clear is not which party it is or whose faces were used," adding, "My drawing was packaged as if it were his own and used purely for political purposes, completely unrelated to my intentions." He further stated, "The fight starting today is simply a fight for the rightful copyright of my stolen drawing." Mr. C also demanded an apology from lawmaker Jeong when submitting the complaint. In November 2022, Jeong shared Mr. B’s composite photo on his Facebook page with the caption, "I am a political community with Lee Jae-myung."