Police Send 8 People to Prosecution for Secondary Harm Related to Itaewon Disaster

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The police have announced that they will respond strictly to secondary harm directed at the victims of the Itaewon disaster. They have handed over perpetrators who committed secondary harm online to the prosecution and have also requested the deletion and blocking of related posts.

On the 28th, the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency stated that immediately after the disaster, they established a Cyber Countermeasure Situation Room within the Cyber Investigation Division and investigated 36 cases including malicious defamation and personal information leaks related to the Itaewon disaster victims, sending 8 suspects to the prosecution. Additionally, they requested the Korea Communications Commission to delete and block 564 related posts.

According to the police, those who spread false information or post malicious defamatory comments online can be punished under the Information and Communications Network Act or the Criminal Act. In October 2014, the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced a person who wrote insulting comments about the Sewol ferry victims to 6 months in prison with a 2-year probation, and the Suwon District Court Ansan Branch sentenced another to 4 months in prison.

Going forward, the police stated that they will conduct investigations with detention for malicious and organized dissemination of false information and malicious defamatory comments until secondary harm against the Itaewon disaster bereaved families online is eradicated. They also plan to promptly request deletion and blocking of related posts to prevent further damage.

A National Investigation Headquarters official said, "Malicious comments are crimes that leave even greater wounds on the bereaved families," and added, "We will respond strictly to ensure that such crimes never happen again."

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