South Korea inmate fined 1 million won for sex-crime accusation in prison yard

An inmate at Uijeongbu Prison was fined for defaming a fellow prisoner after publicly accusing him of a sex crime in a prison yard. The incident occurred on October 11, 2024, and the court later imposed a 1 million won penalty on the defendant.

The case was heard by the Uijeongbu District Court’s Criminal Division 9 in a single-judge proceeding, with Judge Kim Bo-hyun presiding. The defendant, referred to as A, faced a defamation charge for labeling another inmate a sex offender in a public setting.

According to the court, A spoke in front of about 10 other inmates in the prison yard, stating that the fellow inmate B was a sex offender. When asked to identify him, A pointed at B and said, “The short guy with knee braces is the person who committed sexual acts with someone under 13.” In court, A did not disclose B’s name or inmate number and argued that there was no intent to defame; he claimed the disclosure occurred while reporting inappropriate conduct.

A’s defense argued that there was no explicit naming of B or other identifying details, that the act happened during a report of misconduct, and that bystanders could have mistaken B for someone else. The defense maintained that the act was not intended to harm B’s reputation.

The court rejected these arguments, finding that the inmates present could reasonably identify B as the person targeted. It held that while the law allows a defense when a statement is true and made solely for the public interest, the circumstances here did not show the statement served only public interest. The court concluded that the public-setting statement did not meet that standard.

The sentence was a 1,000,000 won fine, imposed in line with a short-form order typically used for minor offenses. The court said the penalty was not unduly harsh given the facts.

For U.S. readers, the case highlights how South Korea treats defamation inside a correctional facility, where statements about an inmate’s alleged sexual misconduct can be criminally punished if they are not clearly made for public interest and cannot be clearly anonymized. It also underscores differences between Korean defamation standards and how truth, intent, and public interest are weighed in court. The ruling was issued by a district court in the Seoul metropolitan area, reflecting how local courts apply the law in conduct within prisons. Uijeongbu Prison, the site of the incident, is a correctional facility located in Gyeonggi Province, near Seoul.