▲ Kim Byeong-heon, representative of the group, attending a pre-detention interrogation.
Conservative activists who insulted victims of Japan's wartime military sexual slavery by calling them prostitutes have been indicted on charges including defamation, four years after the initial complaint was filed.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Shin Do-wook of Criminal Division 1 and Chief Prosecutor Kim Jeong-ok of Public Security Division 3, announced today (June 17) that it has indicted Kim Byeong-heon, representative of the National Action for the Abolition of the Comfort Women Act, on charges of defamation.
Four other members of conservative civic groups, including Joo Ok-soon, head of the Mom Brigade, and Kim Sang-jin, head of the New Freedom Union, were also indicted without detention on defamation charges.
Three others, whose offenses were deemed relatively minor, were referred for summary indictments on charges of defamation and insult.
Kim and the others are accused of defaming the victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery by repeatedly referring to them as prostitutes during demonstrations held by the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issues of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Jeongui-giyeon) between 2021 and 2022.
They are also charged with damaging the social reputation of the organization, which was established to restore the human rights of the victims, by disparaging its activities as "lies" or "fraud," and claiming it was colluding with the Communist Party.
The investigation began after the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance filed a complaint against Kim and others in March 2022. However, it took over four years to reach a decision due to the case being passed back and forth between the prosecution and the police.
Kim is currently standing trial after being indicted under detention for spreading false information by posting 69 articles and videos on Facebook and YouTube between January 2024 and January of this year, in which he described the victims as "fake comfort women," "prostitutes," and "professional women who signed contracts with pimps and earned money."
The prosecution stated, "We will respond sternly to those who maliciously slander victims of Japan's wartime military sexual slavery and spread false information."
Meanwhile, an amendment to the Act on Protection of and Support for Victims of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery went into effect on the 11th, which allows for penalties of up to five years in prison or fines of up to 50 million won for those who distort the facts of the victimization or spread false information with the intent to slander the victims.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.