'Druking Comment Manipulation' Kim Kyung-soo... Supreme Court Verdict on the 21st

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court's ruling on Gyeongnam Governor Kim Kyung-soo, who was prosecuted for conspiring in the 'Druking comment manipulation' case, will be announced at the end of this month. It has been eight months since the case was filed last November, and Kim was sentenced to prison in the second trial.

According to the legal community on the 9th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Lee Dong-won) will hold a verdict hearing on the 21st for Kim, who was prosecuted on charges of illegal public opinion manipulation using comments.

Kim was charged with conspiring with Druking's Kim Dong-won and others to manipulate comment rankings by sending a total of about 88.4 million 'like' and 'dislike' (recommendation and opposition) click signals to approximately 1,188,000 comments posted on Naver and Daum articles from December 2016 to April 2018 using a macro program.

He is also accused of violating the Public Official Election Act by offering the position of Consul General in Sendai, Japan, to Druking's close associate, lawyer Do-mo, in exchange for helping his campaign in the June 13 local elections.

The first trial recognized all of Kim's charges as guilty, sentencing him to two years in prison for comment manipulation and ordering his immediate detention. For the Public Official Election Act violation, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a two-year probation.

The second trial's judgment differed. It recognized only the comment manipulation charge as guilty and acquitted him of the Public Official Election Act violation. Although he was sentenced to two years in prison, Kim, who was released on bail, was not re-detained in court.

The key issue in the appeal trial on the 21st is whether Kim visited Druking's group's office on November 9, 2016, and witnessed the operation demonstration of the 'King Crab' prototype. If the Supreme Court does not acknowledge this, it will be difficult to prove that the comment manipulation occurred with Kim's tacit approval.

Meanwhile, if the Supreme Court upholds the prison sentence from the second trial on that day, Kim will be detained. If the case is remanded, he will continue the trial while remaining out of custody.

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