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The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has prosecuted 25 individuals on charges that they slandered Lim Su-kyung (38), who drew public attention when she visited North Korea in 1989 as a college student, when they posted malicious replies to Internet articles on the death of Lim's son.
Fourteen of the group were slapped with fines of W1 million. This marks the first time that prosecutors have pressed charges for malicious online comments. The proceedings were handled as an informal trial, a legal system in which culprits appeal to the court to punish them with fines as an informal mandate without being put on trial.
The 25, which include a 47 year-old bank employee being referred to by his surname of Seo, were charged for their posts of abusive replies to online articles about Lim's son's drowning death in July of last year, in which they denounced her as a "red" and ridiculed her son's death. Most of them were males in their 40s with high-levels of education, such as a college professor, a banker, and employees with large corporations.
Prosecutors requested local district prosecutors to investigate ten of them who live outside Seoul and dropped charges against one whose online ID was stolen. Prosecutors said while there is a concern that this may limit the freedom of speech, but they decided to make an example of the group in an effort to warn those who may consider committing similar actions in the future.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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