The monetary penalty ruling on the netizen who slandered the idol group JYJ’s member Kim Jaejoong has been finalized.
The Supreme Court Department 1(Chief Justice Cho Huidae) announced today(9/11/2014) that it upheld the lower court’s original decision of $1,500 fine for A(25 yrs old) who was charged for breaching the Internet Usage Promotion Law and the laws related to information protection(Slander) on August 20th.
The court explained, “In order to legally punish someone for slander detailed evidences that show this person damaged a specific person’s social worth or reputation must be presented. Even though one used value-neutral terms, if it damaged a specific person’s social reputation in terms of generally accepted social norm, it is a slander.”
The court ruled, “The defendant seriously damaged famous entertainer’s reputation in regards to his private life. Therefore, the lower court’s decision is valid.”
A was indicted for posting malicious rumors about Kim Jaejoong and his family on internet message board from August to September of 2012.
The two previous court rulings indicated, “The defendant freely interpreted and further fabricated rumors going around the internet and seriously distorted the victim’s private life causing significant damage to his social reputation. The defendant’s crime is highly malicious.” Since A is deeply regretting her crime, the court finalized the monetary penalty.