A court has ordered a cyber wrecker who spread false information about Kim Hee-young, a director of the T&C Foundation and the live-in partner of Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, to pay 20 million won in damages to Kim.
According to legal sources on the 12th, Judge Lee Jeong-hun of the Seoul Western District Court's Civil Division 6 issued a partial ruling in favor of the plaintiff on on the 21st, in a damages suit filed by Director Kim against YouTube channel operator A. The court ordered A to pay 20 million won out of the 30 million won Kim sought.
A was found to have posted false information about Director Kim and Kim's mother on YouTube twice in Aug. 2024. The videos included false content about Kim's mother's past conduct and private life. They also claimed that Kim's past violin donation activities were fabricated.
The judge said, "Online defamation spreads to an unspecified number of people at a very fast pace," and noted, "It is difficult to easily repair negative perceptions that have already formed with only criminal punishment or civil damages."
However, the damages were set at 20 million won in consideration of the fact that A deleted all the videos and closed the channel, and that the content mentioned in the videos had been circulated on the internet in the past.
A submitted a notice of appeal on the 7th, and the case is expected to move to the appellate court.