The Supreme Court has confirmed a fine sentence for a man in his 40s, who defamed Suzy and called her “National Hotel Girl”.
On July 27th, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s ruling, sentencing Mr. A, a man in his 40s, to a fine of 500,000 Korean won (approx. 400 USD) for defamation.
Mr. A was accused of insulting Suzy with malicious comments such as “a bubble created by fandom” and “National Hotel Girl” on the news comment section of a portal site back in 2015.
In the first trial, he was fined 1 million won, but in the second trial, he was acquitted, arguing that celebrities, like Suzy, should not be subject to the same standards as non-celebrities due to their public attention.
However, the Supreme Court found it difficult to accept the acquittal and sent the case back to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office.
In the re-opened second trial, the expression “National Hotel Girl” was recognized as defamatory, and Mr. A was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 won. The appellate court confirmed this sentence.
The judges ruled that Mr. A’s malicious comments “insulted the victim by objectifying her sexually,” making it a case of defamation.
Source: Nate
