A South Korean man in his 30s is facing indictment for insulting President Moon Jae-in. The Yeongdeungpo Police Department told Kim Jung-sik that his case will be transferred to the prosecution.
Kim handed out pamphlets criticizing President Moon and members of the ruling Democratic Party near the National Assembly on July 17, 2019. He was investigated by the police for nearly three years on charges of insulting President Moon and others. Kim told the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper that his cell phone was confiscated by the police for three months. The police told Kim that the purpose was to conduct forensic analysis. Kim said he was brought in for police questioning more than 10 times.
“I asked the police whether my charge was insulting President Moon as a misdemeanor and they told me that ‘it is,’” Kim said in an interview with the newspaper. An insult charge is a crime that can be prosecuted only upon complaint. It cannot be prosecuted over the express objection of the victim, according to South Korean criminal law. This means that either President Moon or a person on behalf of Moon filed a lawsuit against Kim. Local media outlets reported that it is very rare for a president to file a lawsuit against a citizen over an insult.
According to Kim, he asked the police who submitted the complaint against him, and the police told him that “I think that everyone would know.” Kim said that he repeated the question while he was under investigation, but that police just said “I cannot say it with my own words, and why do you keep asking the same question when you know what it is all about?”
Kim Jae-won, a lawyer in South Korea, told the media that a suspect facing such a charge has a right to know who the complainant is. “The police not letting the suspect know about this information can be interpreted as infringing upon the suspect’s right to defense,” Kim said.
The JoongAng Ilbo asked the police whether President Moon filed a complaint against Kim, and the police said that disclosing this information would put it in a difficult position. “According to the law, doesn’t only the president or someone representing him have a right to file a lawsuit when it comes to an insult charge?” the newspaper asked. The police reportedly responded with, “do [write] as you wish.”
Kim faces insult charge for handing out posters in 2019 titled, “2020, reply, descendants of Pro-Japanese faction,” The poster text read, “President Moon Jae-in’s father Moon Yong-hyun graduated from the prestigious Hamheung Agricultural High School [located in the northeast of the Korean peninsula] under Japanese rule and worked as an official for the Hamheung City Government.” Moon’s parents fled North Korea during the Korean War.
The media pointed out that President Moon’s latest actions contradict his previous remarks. “I think that insulting a president can be considered freedom of speech,” Moon said in August 2020. “If they feel better by insulting a president, I think it is a good thing.”
In January 2017, a few months before Moon became president, he said, “People have every right to criticize those in power.” He added, “Isn’t it a good thing if people can resolve their frustration and feel happier?”
The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) released a statement on April 28 after the JoongAng Ilbo broke the story about Kim’s case.
“It is unprecedented for a president to file a lawsuit against a citizen,” said Hwang Kyu-hwan, deputy spokesperson of the PPP. “He should stop persecuting people immediately and explain and apologize for this case.”
The PPP added that this administration is trying to roll back democracy by dominating the people, saying, “This administration even tried to transfer a middle school student’s case to a juvenile court.”
He was referring to a 13-year-old middle school student who is facing charges of violating election law in a juvenile court. On April 2, just five days before the Seoul mayoral by-election, the student damaged an election poster of Park Young-sun, the DP’s candidate, with an ice-cream stick he finished eating. “I did not have any particular reason, and I was just playing around while I was passing by the poster with my friends,” he told police.
Around 21,000 people signed a Blue House petition launched on April 20 entitled, “Will they really send a middle school student to a juvenile court for damaging Park Young-sun’s election poster for fun?” The petitioner said “I remember damaging presidential candidates’ election posters with my friends when we were young because we were just mad at the wrongdoings of those cruel people in power.”
“I can understand giving warnings to kids for their childish acts, but sending them to a juvenile court? Is this for real? Is this a communist country?”
Park Young-sun released a statement on April 24, saying “I felt heavy-hearted after reading the article and I hope the authorities show leniency.”
A person who publicly insults another can be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding two million won ($1,795) in South Korea.
