'Battery Uncle' YouTuber fined for defaming SK Chairman's partner
Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- A South Korean YouTuber known as 'Battery Uncle' has been fined 7 million won ($5,000) in a lower court for spreading false information about the partner of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.
- The YouTuber, Park Soon-hyuk, had claimed in a video that the chairman's partner, Kim Hee-young, could be a Chinese spy and that her relationship was linked to SK's alleged pro-China stance and potential sale of SK Hynix.
- The court found Park guilty of defamation via information network law, citing the potential for widespread dissemination through his channel, but noted his confession and lack of prior convictions in determining the sentence.
A South Korean YouTuber, widely known among individual investors as 'Battery Uncle,' has been handed a 7 million won ($5,000) fine in a first-instance court ruling. Park Soon-hyuk was convicted of defamation for spreading false information about Kim Hee-young, the partner of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and head of the T&C Foundation.
SK is actually pro-China and shows many dangerous behaviors, and one of them is Kim Hee-young. It's all connected.
Park, who gained popularity for advocating the growth potential of secondary batteries on YouTube, made controversial claims in a video posted on his channel, 'Park Soon-hyuk Woogoisan TV,' in late January. He suggested that SK Group exhibited pro-China tendencies and that Kim Hee-young was connected to these alleged actions, even speculating that she might be a Chinese spy.
There is a high possibility that she is a Chinese spy.
Further fueling conspiracy theories, Park also linked Chey Tae-won's divorce to alleged Chinese intentions. He posited that the divorce was motivated by China's strong desire for SK Hynix. According to his theory, to facilitate the transfer of Hynix to Chinese control, a Chinese successor would be appointed. This successor, he claimed, would be Kim Hee-young's child with Chey Tae-won, who could then be 'recruited' by Chinese interests.
The reason for the divorce is that China wants SK Hynix so badly.
The Seoul Eastern District Court's Judge Kwon Min-jung found Park guilty of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. While acknowledging the potential for wide dissemination of such content, the court also considered Park's confession and his clean criminal record in its sentencing. The ruling highlights the legal repercussions of spreading unsubstantiated claims and conspiracy theories online.
If they want to make Hynix Chinese, they can appoint a Chinese successor. They can pass Hynix to the child born between Kim Hee-young and him, and then recruit that child from the Chinese side.
Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.