Han-gil Jeon Avoids Detention Over Defamation of Jae-myung Lee and Jun-seok Lee

Jeon Hangil, a YouTuber and former Korean history lecturer who is accused of defaming President Lee Jaemyung and Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform New Party, by raising false allegations against them, has avoided detention.

Kim Jinman, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, held a pre-trial detention hearing for Jeon on April 16 on charges including defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and violation of the Framework Act on Telecommunications. After the hearing, Judge Kim dismissed the arrest warrant, stating, "It is difficult to see any risk of evidence destruction or flight."

YouTuber JeonHangil, who is accused of defaming President Lee Jae-myung and Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform New Party, is attending the pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Yonhap News

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Jeon is accused of defamation for making claims on his YouTube channel that President Lee created a 160 trillion won slush fund and for raising suspicions that Kim Hyeonji, the chief of staff at the presidential office, has an extramarital child. He is also accused of spreading false claims that Lee Junseok's dual major in economics at Harvard University is not true.

Previously, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Unit summoned Jeon three times for questioning and, judging the case to be serious, applied for an arrest warrant. Police believe Jeon earned a total of 32.6 million won in revenue through six videos containing fake news, which constituted false and manipulated information. Even after being booked by the police, Jeon further raised the issue of "90,000 barrels of Ulsan oil being sent to North Korea" and was subsequently reported again by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Before attending his detention hearing in the morning, Jeon stated, "I have lived within the law and have no prior convictions, but after the Lee Jaemyung administration was established, I found myself coming to the police station and court." He argued, "(The Democratic Party and those around Lee Junseok) filed complaints and accusations for political retaliation and to cover up the truth." Regarding the allegations he raised on YouTube, Jeon said, "I was not the first to report them but merely cited suspicions reported by the American media, which has nothing to do with a crime," and reiterated his claim that "Lee Junseok's bachelor's degree in economics is false."

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