Environmental Activist Claims "Caught Endangered Species" to Show Off... Admits "Lie" After Indictment

Environmental Activist "Actually Doesn't Even Go to the Site"
Court "Lied to Show Off Achievements" Not Guilty

An environmental activist who was prosecuted for violating the Wildlife Protection Act after posting on social media that they had captured endangered fish to showcase their activity achievements was acquitted. The court took into consideration the fact that the activist later admitted in court, "In fact, I never caught endangered species," confessing to the falsehood.

According to the legal community on the 24th, Judge Park So-jung of the Criminal Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Court recently acquitted Yeom, the head of an environmental organization, who was charged with violating the Wildlife Protection and Management Act.

[Photo by Yeom Mo on Facebook]

In February of last year, Yeom visited the Namhan River area in Yeoju City under the pretext of conducting ‘fish monitoring’ activities in Gyeonggi Province, and posted on SNS, “Today, I encountered over 20 species of fish including protected species such as Kkuguri and Muknapjaru. Of course, I only recorded them and released them immediately.”

In response to concerns that an organization meant to protect the environment was threatening the ecosystem, Yeom deleted the post, stating, “It is difficult to identify all species just by looking, so I only checked the number of individuals and released them again.”

The Kkuguri that Yeom claimed to have captured is classified as a Grade 2 endangered wild species, and capturing it requires permission from the Minister of Environment and following prescribed procedures. The Ministry of Environment has even produced and distributed ‘capture prohibition posters’ to protect the Kkuguri.

The Hangang River Basin Environmental Office filed a complaint against Yeom for violating the Wildlife Protection Act.

Yeom later admitted to lying in court. Yeom claimed, “In fact, I did not capture or release any Kkuguri.” Yeom said the post was made after hearing from another person who participated in the fish monitoring that “it seems they saw a Kkuguri.” Yeom also stated that they did not participate in the fish monitoring activity on that day.

The court accepted Yeom’s late confession as true. Judge Park judged, “Although Yeom did not capture the Kkuguri, it appears they posted the message to make it seem like there were activity achievements.” Ultimately, since the illegal capture was not proven, Yeom was acquitted.

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