A man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of secondary victimization for spreading false information for an extended period about victims and bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster and the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon.
The Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI) said on the 30th that it arrested a person identified as A on suspicion of repeatedly posting more than 70 online posts over a long period that spread false information and insulted and defamed victims and bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster and the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon.
From 2021 to 2024, A is suspected of continuously posting false claims related to the Sewol ferry disaster and the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon and posts slandering bereaved families on domestic and overseas platforms. It was found that A also posted content such as "Sewol ferry bereaved families were 'recycled' as Itaewon bereaved families."
A is the second arrest since the launch of the Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI)'s Second-Victimization Crime Investigation Unit. In January, the unit also arrested a person in their 60s identified as B on suspicion of repeatedly posting about 700 posts that mocked bereaved families of the deadly crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon and spread false information.
Police, in connection with the 12th anniversary events of the Sewol ferry disaster held recently, identified 23 posts suspected of secondary victimization crimes and launched an investigation.
Park Woo-hyeon, deliberation officer for cyber investigations at the Korean National Police Agency, said, "Secondary victimization targeting disaster victims and bereaved families is a serious crime that infringes on victims' honor and rights to personality," adding, "We will hold perpetrators fully accountable to the end under a zero-tolerance policy for spreading false information and slander related to major disasters."