"‘I Came from Wuhan, Cough Cough’ YouTuber Pretending to Be a Novel Coronavirus Patient Avoids Arrest"

A 20-year-old YouTuber impersonating a novel coronavirus patient. Photo by YouTuber capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] A 20-year-old YouTuber who pretended to be a patient infected with the novel coronavirus (Wuhan pneumonia) on the subway to become famous and made a video of it has avoided detention.

On the 11th, Judge Jinwoong Park of the Busan District Court Western Branch dismissed the detention warrant after the pre-detention interrogation (warrant review) of Kang Mo (23), who was subject to a detention warrant request on charges including obstruction of business.

Judge Park stated the reason for dismissal, saying, "The suspect has a fixed occupation and residence, admits to the charges, and the video from the time of the crime has been secured, so the possibility of evidence tampering is low. At this stage, it is difficult to recognize the necessity or appropriateness of detention."

However, the police announced that they will continue to strictly take action against antisocial behavior, acts that increase public anxiety, and the spread of false information such as fake news related to the novel coronavirus.

Kang, who showed no signs of remorse by posting videos mocking the police who requested the warrant, reportedly said in court on the day, "I will never create such content again."

Earlier, on the 30th of last month at around 4:30 p.m., Kang was caught by the police for producing a video on a Busan Metro Line 3 train where he suddenly coughed and pretended to be infected with the novel coronavirus by saying, "I came from Wuhan. It's pneumonia. Everyone stay away from me," and uploading it to his YouTube channel.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.