A prison sentence was handed down to YouTubers charged with spreading false information related to the Jeju Air tragedy that occurred at Muan International Airport in December last year.
The Busan District Court's Criminal Division 7 (Director General Shim Hak-sik) sentenced YouTubers A (60) and B (71) to three years and one year in prison, respectively, during the sentencing hearing on the charges of violating the Information and Communications Network Act (defamation) on the 20th.
B, who was on trial without detention, was taken into custody.
Director General Shim noted, "The act of producing false videos filled with various speculations and conspiracies for their own gain and posting them on channels accessible to unspecified individuals is reprehensible, especially given the significant damage caused by the unfortunate incident."
He emphasized, "Even now, they maintain a consistent attitude of claiming their conspiracy theories are true while criticizing investigation agencies and the government, showing no signs of remorse."
A and others are accused of posting videos containing false information—such as "the Jeju Air passenger plane incident did not actually occur, and the accident footage is a computer-generated (CG) false video," and "the bereaved families are actors who appeared during the Sewol ferry and Itaewon incidents"—100 times between December 2024 and January 2025.
They also continued to disseminate false information by creating new accounts on YouTube whenever their original accounts were closed due to reports.
Meanwhile, A received a definitive sentence of one year and six months for spreading false information claiming that the Sewol ferry disaster was a massacre perpetrated by the government and the Korean Coast Guard in a Supreme Court ruling in 2018.
He was apprehended in Seoul last February after fleeing and failing to appear for a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant review) related to this incident.