[One Year Since the Abolition of Sports Comments] Only an 800,000 Won Fine... Now Even That <중>

Pro Baseball Player Oh Ji-hwan Prosecuted for Malicious Comments
Unusual 1.2 Million Won Fine for Defamation
89% Receive Fines... Average Fine 890,000 Won

Experts Say "Punishments Must Increase to Raise Awareness"
Unregulated SNS and Community Migration
Information Disappears After 6 Months, Making Tracking Impossible

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Seongpil Jo and Daehyun Kim] "That woman couldn't go to the training camp because she was traveling abroad lol"

The weight of responsibility for this comment was a fine of 1.2 million KRW. The court sentenced this last month. The defendant is Mr. A, in his 30s. In July of last year, he left this comment on an article related to professional baseball player Oh Ji-hwan and his wife Kim Young-eun. He was charged with insult under criminal law. He seemed to feel wronged and claimed innocence. The court did not accept this. The court ruled that the comment constituted insult and found him guilty. Mr. A appealed and is currently awaiting the second trial.

Is it insult even though no profanity was used?

The main argument Mr. A made in court was this: "I did not use profanity; I just said what I wanted to say. How can that be a crime?" Mr. A's lawyer also stated, "The comment does not degrade the social evaluation of Oh Ji-hwan and his wife Kim's personal dignity," and "The expression does not violate social norms, so the illegality is also negated."

Under criminal law, insult is established when a person is publicly 'insulted.' The Supreme Court has defined 'insult' in precedents as ▲not stating facts, and ▲expressing abstract judgments or contemptuous feelings that could degrade a person's social evaluation. However, there is an exception that if the expression does not violate social norms, it is not punishable.

Presiding Judge Shim Byung-jik of Jeju District Court Criminal Division 1, the first-instance court, did not consider that the expressions used by Mr. A in the comment violated social norms or degraded the social evaluation of the persons. He judged that using the terms 'nom' and 'nyeon,' which are derogatory terms for men and women, respectively, did not constitute insult. However, the false statement in the comment that "she couldn't go to the training camp because she was traveling abroad" was problematic. Judge Shim pointed out, "People who are unaware that false facts were stated in the comment could form a negative evaluation of the victims or reinforce existing negative evaluations."

1.2 million KRW fine is also exceptional... 'Post-regulation' needs strengthening

Attorney Noh Ki-wan of Law Firm Changcheon, who legally represents Oh Ji-hwan, said, "The 1.2 million KRW fine is also an unusually high amount." He added, "In most cases of insult or defamation charges due to malicious comments, fines range from 500,000 to 700,000 KRW." In fact, the Korea Institute of Criminology analyzed 376 first-instance rulings on online insult cases over a year and a half since 2016, finding that about 62% resulted in guilty verdicts, and among those, 89% were fines. The average fine was about 890,000 KRW.

Attorney Noh said, "The punishment seems excessively light compared to the acts committed by malicious commenters." Experts also agree on the need to strengthen post-regulation, such as punishment standards. Professor Park Jong-min of Kyung Hee University's Department of Media Studies said, "Pre-regulation of malicious comments is difficult technically and legally, but post-remedies are possible," adding, "Ultimately, increasing precedents that punish malicious commenters will raise public awareness."

Malicious comments shifting to SNS... investigations becoming more difficult

Since South Korea's two major portal sites, Naver and Daum, abolished sports news comments in August last year, it has become harder to enforce such post-regulation. This is because malicious comments have shifted to social networking services (SNS) and online communities, which lack minimal regulatory mechanisms. Currently, investigating malicious comments on SNS or online communities is difficult. Attorney Noh said, "In online communities where comments can be posted without membership registration, IP information disappears after six months, making tracking impossible." Most SNS platforms are owned by foreign companies, making cooperation in investigations difficult. Even when cooperation is obtained, since only an email is required at sign-up, it is hard to identify personal information."

During the Tokyo Olympics, malicious comments targeting athletes poured in. A reckless flood of malicious comments occurred mainly on SNS and online communities. As of the 6th, two days before the closing ceremony, there have been no reports of athletes taking legal action such as filing complaints against malicious comments. Professor Park said, "There should be a system to allow compensation for damages after the fact," adding, "Since it is difficult for famous people like athletes to handle legal actions alone, support at the association level is necessary."

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