YouTuber who attacked Ive, BTS members denies defamation accusation

A photo of Jang Won-young from her official Instagram page (Instagram)

A 35-year-old YouTuber who posted multiple videos about top K-pop stars denied accusations of defamation in a court hearing Monday.

The lawyer of the defendant, surnamed Park, told the Incheon District Court that she admits to making the videos but denies the charges of defamation and insult she had been indicted with.

Park claimed that the relevant statements in her videos were a mere expression of her personal opinion, and that her actions does not constitute defamation as she truly believed what she said to be true. She claimed to not have any intent of defamation or obstruction of business for the affected artists.

The defendant has been accused of posting 23 videos on the YouTube channel she ran from October of 2021 to June of 2023, concerning slanderous and false information about seven celebrities. The victims include Jang Won-young of K-pop group IVE, V and Jungkook of BTS.

The claims made in the videos included that Jang's jealousy prevented debuts of other K-pop trainees at her company, and numerous claims of prostitution or plastic surgeries involving multiple celebrities.

Prosecutors found that Park made 250 million won ($186,600) in profit from her YouTube channel, and have frozen her assets, worth about 200 million won.

Other videos regarding celebrities had been posted on the channel, which had an accumulated 160 million views before it was closed last year.

Park's claim that her tarnishing of the several K-pop stars was unintentional may be an attempt to reduce her punishment. Those found guilty of defamation via public allegation of falsehoods can be punished by up to seven years in prison, according to the Article 70-2 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

But past rulings have stated that even if someone makes false allegations about someone else, defamation charges could be dropped if they have "considerable objective reason" to believe the claims to be true, and if the allegation serves the public interest.

Park is also involved in multiple criminal and civic lawsuits filed by a number of K-pop stars, in addition to the criminal charges. A local court in January ordered her to compensate Jang with 100 million won in damages.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)