"Lee Geun," who illegally entered Ukraine, fined for "showing off" malicious comments

Court: "Not Forgiven by the Victim"

Former Captain Lee Geun (40), who is active as a YouTuber, was fined for a woman in her 40s who left a malicious comment on an article about his unauthorized entry into war-torn Ukraine.

According to the legal community on the 12th, Judge Choi Hee-dong of the Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 6 sentenced Ms. A, who was tried for defamation, to a fine of 300,000 won. Ms. A was prosecuted for leaving malicious comments on an article about former Captain Lee posted on an internet portal site in May 2022.

Former Captain Lee Geun [Photo by Yonhap News]

The article reported that former Captain Lee, who had illegally entered Ukraine during the war, was injured and received treatment in Korea, and then hoped to return to Ukraine. Ms. A left comments such as “The show is over, so now he’s coming back” and “Attention seekers should be severely punished” on the article.

The court stated, “She was not forgiven by the victim,” and “Considering that the comments were written impulsively after reading an internet article related to an incident that became a subject of social and public interest and criticism.”

Mr. Lee left for Ukraine immediately after the outbreak of the war in March 2022 and joined the 'Territorial Defense Forces International Brigade,' a foreign unit in Ukraine.

[Photo by Online Community]

He returned to Korea in May of the same year and was prosecuted for unauthorized entry into Ukraine and other charges, receiving a sentence of 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation last month. The appeal trial is currently underway.

Earlier, Mr. Lee was recently handed over to the prosecution on charges of driving without a license. In January, the Suwon Southern Police Station announced that it had sent Mr. Lee to the prosecution without detention earlier this month on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act (unlicensed driving).

Mr. Lee is accused of driving without a license from his home in Maetan-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon City to the Suwon Southern Police Station at around 6:10 p.m. on September 6 last year. He was booked and investigated by the police for violating the Act on the Safety Control of Firearms, Knives, and Explosives, and during the investigation, his unlicensed driving was discovered. After the report was released, Mr. Lee posted on his YouTube channel, “Regarding the unlicensed driving, of course, I didn’t know about it. No problem.”

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