"Why eat a 'lunchbox bomb'?" TikTok videos mocking independence activists cannot be punished

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[Financial News] As the anniversary of the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (KPG) approaches, controversy is growing over AI-generated posts on social media that caricature or mock independence activists.
On the 10th, Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women's University, stated, "On the occasion of tomorrow's (11th) anniversary of the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, we examined TikTok and various social media platforms and found that there are still many posts mocking independence activists."
Professor Seo pointed out, "There are a variety of malicious posts, including rating the appearance of independence activists, ranking them by level of contribution, and creating composite images with their favorite games or celebrities."
The problem is that it is difficult in practice to impose any real punishment for such malicious content.
According to the legal community, the crime of insult under the Criminal Act does not apply to the deceased. The crime of defamation of dead person is limited to false statements, which makes it far more difficult to establish than ordinary defamation.
Professor Seo stressed, "Above all, the government and the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea must swiftly prepare an amendment to the Act on the Honorable Treatment of Persons of Distinguished Services to Independence to prevent acts that insult independence activists," adding, "When we come across such malicious content, it is most important that our internet users actively report it so that the posts cannot be exposed."
He went on to urge, "Online video platforms and social media companies must also strengthen active monitoring so that this kind of incident does not happen again."
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter