"I Parked in the Designated Space Because I Have a Child with a Disability" ... 'Malicious YouTuber' Given Suspended Prison Sentence

[Financial News] A YouTuber in his 30s was given a suspended prison sentence for allegedly exposing a woman on YouTube after accusing her of illegal parking in a designated space for people with disabilities while she was accompanying a child with a brain lesion disability.
According to legal sources on the 21st, Chu Jin-seok, a judge in the fifth criminal division of the Seoul Eastern District Court, sentenced Jeong, 35, to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, on the 8th. Jeong had been indicted on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
Jeong was accused of posting a video on his YouTube channel last December suggesting that Ms. A had illegally parked after she drove into a designated parking space for people with disabilities while accompanying a child with a brain lesion disability at a parking lot in Gangdong District, Seoul.
After finding Ms. A's vehicle in the designated space, Jeong said, "The vehicle placard for persons of national merit and others has not been valid since 2017. I reported her because parking in a designated space for people with disabilities using this placard carries a 2 million won administrative fine."
Ms. A responded, "My husband is a person of national merit, and my child has a disability, so I am allowed to park in a designated space for people with disabilities." In fact, a placard reading "Parking permitted for caregivers" was displayed on the front of her vehicle. The vehicle placard indicating her national merit status was also found to state that it had been issued in 2020.
Nevertheless, after Jeong reported Ms. A for allegedly illegal parking, she submitted the case to a television program to appeal the unfairness of the situation. The broadcast later revealed that Ms. A had been visiting a department store's cultural center and that she had a young child diagnosed with a brain lesion disability.
On December 26 last year, however, Jeong posted a video on his YouTube channel claiming, in response, that Ms. A's vehicle had been fined for illegal parking.
Earlier, Ms. A had received a preliminary notice of a 100,000 won administrative fine following Jeong's report. However, the notice merely allowed her to submit an opinion before a final disposition, and it was canceled on January 8.
Jeong then requested the disclosure of information from the Disability Welfare Division of Gangdong-gu Office on December 22 last year and obtained a preliminary notice of the administrative fine containing information about Ms. A and her vehicle. He subsequently released a video showing screenshots of the notice.
The video exposed photographs showing the date and time of Ms. A's parking violation, the location, the last three digits of her license plate, and the vehicle placard listed on the notice. Jeong uploaded the screenshots to YouTube four times in total, through January 9, the day after the notice was canceled.
The court noted, "Videos posted on YouTube spread extremely widely and rapidly, making it difficult for people whose privacy has been violated through such videos to recover from the harm. The defendant defamed the victim and disclosed her personal information four times through his YouTube channel, which has more than 300,000 subscribers."
The court also explained its sentencing decision, saying, "Given the circumstances and content of the offense, as well as the means, methods, and number of offenses, the conduct was highly reprehensible. Moreover, the defendant committed the offense again despite having previously been punished several times for defamation or insult through YouTube."
However, the court added that it considered several mitigating circumstances: Jeong acknowledged the facts and was seeking forgiveness from the victim; he attempted to minimize the harm by partially concealing the victim's information in the videos; and he committed the offenses somewhat impulsively and recklessly while responding to broadcasts criticizing him.
Meanwhile, prosecutors rejected the first-instance ruling and filed a notice of appeal with the court on the 14th.
[email protected] An Ga-eul Reporter