40s Male Fined for Spreading Fake Movement Routes of COVID-19 Confirmed Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A man in his 40s who spread fake movement routes of COVID-19 confirmed cases was sentenced to a fine in the first trial.

On the 27th, according to the legal community, Judge Song Seunghun of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 12 recently sentenced Mr. A (41), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business, to a fine of 1.5 million won.

Earlier, Mr. A and others were brought to trial on charges of spreading false information on social networking services (SNS) that the third confirmed COVID-19 case in the country at the end of January last year had visited a plastic surgery clinic and hotels in Gangnam, Seoul. At that time, Gangnam District Office requested a police investigation, stating that businesses not actually included in the movement routes were suffering damages.

In court, Mr. A argued that he did not know the content of the post was false and posted it for public interest purposes.

However, the court stated, "In a situation where nationwide anxiety was escalating due to the spread of COVID-19, Mr. A spread false information in an open chat room with strong transmissibility without verifying the authenticity of the message received from others," and added, "Mr. A had at least indirect intent to obstruct business." "The victims suffered considerable economic losses and mental shock as a result," the court also pointed out.

Meanwhile, Mr. A appealed against this first trial verdict.

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