According to the legal industry on November 27, a sentencing hearing was held for Kim Mo (39), who was indicted for defamation at the Seoul Central District Court, Criminal Division 16, located in Seocho-gu, Seoul.
The prosecution requested a four-month prison sentence for Kim.
Kim was indicted for posting four malicious comments in April 2022, which belittled IU’s singing ability and stage outfits.
Kim argued that she was simply expressing personal preferences and suffered from mental illness, which affects her writing ability, at the same time pleading for leniency.
The first trial’s sentencing is scheduled for December 3.
IU has consistently taken a firm legal stance against malicious commenters. On November 11, her agency, EDAM Entertainment, released an update on criminal complaints for 2023-2024.
The agency stated, “There have been over 180 defendants to date, with additional lawsuits continuing,” and explained, “There have been six cases resulting in fines (summary penalties), three cases of deferred prosecution with conditions of education completion, and one case of deferred prosecution with conditions of probation service.”
The agency continued, “We have also secured personal information on some individuals using overseas servers for illegal activities or residing abroad. Among them, some are suspected to be IU’s former middle school classmates, and despite the ongoing investigations, they have continued to harass IU. We are currently addressing this. For malicious commenters using overseas IP addresses or residing abroad, we have requested cooperation from relevant agencies, and the investigation into tracking them has made progress. We want to make it clear that there will be no settlements or leniency.”
