YouTuber Pretending to Be a COVID-19 Infected Person on Subway... Suspended Sentence

Court. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] A YouTuber who pretended to be a COVID-19 infected person in Busan's downtown area and subway was sentenced to a prison term with a suspended sentence.

The Busan District Court Seobu Branch Criminal Division 4 (Judge Jeong Seong-jong) announced on the 13th that YouTuber A (23), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business, was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

The court stated, "The defendant acted like a COVID-19 patient in the subway and downtown areas to increase views on their YouTube videos, causing anxiety and obstructing subway operations, which is a serious offense. Even after the crime, the defendant posted videos on YouTube mocking the investigation agencies, showing a lack of awareness of the seriousness of their actions."

However, the court explained the sentencing reasons, saying, "Considering that the defendant admitted to the crime, is a first-time offender with no prior criminal record, and later apologized to Busan Transportation Corporation for the obstruction of business."

Earlier, on January 25th, A was brought to trial for causing anxiety among people by collapsing and saying, "I am infected with the Wuhan virus. My head is dizzy," on 'Jeolmeum-ui Geori' (Youth Street) in Deokcheon-dong, Buk-gu, Busan.

Additionally, on the 30th of the same month, A filmed a YouTube video pretending to be a COVID-19 infected person by shouting, "I came from Wuhan. It’s pneumonia. Everyone stay away from me," inside a train on Busan Metro Line 3, thereby obstructing the business of Busan Transportation Corporation.

Later, in February, during an interview with another YouTuber, he said, "It is true that this incident caused social disturbance, but what I did is not a serious crime, right?" and added, "I expected only a fine for violating the Minor Offenses Act."

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