Man charged with libel, using false Net identity

In the first ever case of its kind in Korea, Seoul District Prosecutors have indicted a man for posting indecent writings on the Internet using another person`s identity. The accused is charged with libel and breaching laws that protect communications use and private information.

The law can punish a person, who `damages a reputation through deliberate libel by posting false information through communication networks,` with up to seven-years in jail; a 10-year "suspension of qualification," which entails the suspension of voting rights and eligibility of working for the civil service; or heavy fines of up to 50 million won.

A Seoul National University student, identified only by his family name Kim, was shocked to find in July 2004 that 170 entries written in filthy language had been posted on an Internet portal Web site by an unidentified person who seemed to have stolen his identity. The postings included provocative phrases such as `women who hold dirty jobs should be killed and cut in pieces` and `we should have many men like the serial killer Yu Yeong-cheol.`

Kim reported to the police that he received undeserved scoldings from netizens and urged the police to catch the criminal. However, the police could not find him easily and one year passed without any conclusion to the investigation being reached.

Meanwhile, in July this year, when the police were interrogating a 32-year-old man called Sohn, arrested on suspicion of carrying out habitual thefts from the library of Seoul National University, police discovered that he had many memos containing peoples` social security numbers and names. Sohn confessed that he stole Kim`s identification number and name and said, "I did it on purpose to get him into trouble because Kim often reserved a seat in the library even though he didn`t study much."

On August 5th, the prosecution initially indicted Sohn on a charge of habitual theft but on the 16th added the charge of libel, using a false internet identity, to set a judicial precedent.

An official at the prosecution said, "Internet users are increasingly getting access to websites and using nicknames to post obscene and dirty entries. We indicted Sohn to set a strict example regarding such acts."

(yoonmi@heraldm.com)



By Kim Yoon-mi