30s Suspended Sentence for 'Lee Jae-myung Murder Threat' Day After Attack... "Bad Nature of Crime"

77 Times Raised in 2 Hours in Bangkok, Thailand
Court: "Victim Likely Felt Significant Anxiety"

A man in his 30s who posted a message saying "I will kill Representative Lee" the day after the stabbing attack on Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was sentenced to imprisonment in the first trial. Pixabay

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, was attacked with a weapon, and the next day, a man in his 30s who posted online that he would "murder Leader Lee" was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.

On the 4th, Judge Lee Jun-gu of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 18 sentenced A (30), who was indicted on charges of intimidation on the 27th of last month, to 10 months in prison with a 2-year suspension and ordered him to perform 160 hours of community service.

A was tried for threatening by posting a murder threat on the online community "DC Inside" at a bar in Bangkok, Thailand, in the early morning of January 3. It was investigated that he posted the problematic message 77 times over 2 hours. The day he posted the message was the day after Leader Lee was attacked on the neck with a weapon by a man in his 60s while carrying out his schedule in Busan.

The court ruled, "Considering the circumstances, content, method, and frequency of the crime, the nature of the offense is not good," and "The victim, who was attacked only a few days ago, is believed to have felt considerable anxiety due to this crime." It added, "The offender was not forgiven by the victim, and a large number of police officers were mobilized to protect the victim’s safety, which caused a significant waste of public authority," and explained, "Punishment commensurate with responsibility is inevitable." However, the court took into account as a mitigating factor that "the offender admitted the crime and showed remorse, and it appears that there was no actual intention to carry out the threat."