Kim Se-eui, head of the Garosero Research Institute, was brought to trial in custody on the 23rd on charges of defaming actor Kim Soo-hyun.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Second Division for Investigation of Crimes Against Women and Children (headed by Director General Park Ji-na) indicted Kim in custody on charges including violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (defamation), the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, and the Anti-Stalking Act.
Kim is accused of spreading false information on YouTube by continuously producing maliciously slanderous content, including claims that the late Kim Sae-ron's cause of death was pressure from Kim Soo-hyun to repay debt.
Regarding Kim airing on a YouTube broadcast a photo of Kim Soo-hyun washing dishes wearing only a T-shirt and underwear bottoms, prosecutors applied a charge of violating the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Earlier, the Seoul Gangnam Police Station sought an arrest warrant on the 14th of last month, finding that Kim, seeking public attention, produced the video despite knowing it was false. Kim flatly denied the charges, but the court issued the warrant, citing concerns about destruction of evidence and flight.
Through a supplementary investigation, prosecutors confirmed that Kim arbitrarily edited and distorted materials or indiscriminately used false materials without even minimal basic fact-checking.
Prosecutors said, "We will continue to respond firmly under a zero-tolerance policy to malicious content creators who, under the pretext of private sanctions, spread fake news online and foment public condemnation of specific individuals."