Prosecutors appealed the first-trial verdict for YouTuber Park Sun-hyeok, 55, who was indicted on charges of spreading false information by labeling T&C Foundation board member Kim Hee-young, the partner of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, as a "Chinese spy."
On the 20th, according to legal sources, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office filed an appeal brief on the 15th, arguing that the sentence in Park's first-trial ruling, handed down on charges under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, was unduly lenient. Park is not known to have filed a separate appeal.
Earlier, on the 9th, Kwon Min-jung, the solo criminal judge of the 6th division at the Seoul Eastern District Court, sentenced Park to a fine of 7 million won. The court said, "Given the nature of the medium, the potential for dissemination is considerable," but also noted, "The defendant admitted wrongdoing and confessed, and there is no prior record of similar offenses," explaining the sentencing reasons.
Park, nicknamed the "battery uncle," was indicted on charges of spreading false information, including making remarks on his YouTube channel last year to the effect that Kim was likely a Chinese spy.
At the sentencing hearing held on the 11th of last month, prosecutors sought eight months in prison, saying, "He made statements that are baseless and hard to accept as a matter of common sense, and uploaded them, showing poor culpability."