Ji Faces 8 Months in Prison for Slandering Lee Myung-bak

A man named Ji Man-won posted an essay titled, ‘Lee Myung-bak: unresolved mysteries’ on his blog titled ‘System Club’ in October 2006. The posting asked, “Is Lee’s biological mother Japanese or not?” and “Lee was diagnosed with tuberculosis by eating powered lime on purpose to evade military service.” Ji was accused of spreading false information yesterday.

On October 4, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Ji to eight months in prison for posting false information on the Internet on Lee’s birth and military service. The court confiscated 1,900 copies of the books written by Ji.

The sentence states that, “Political and democratic development has reduced the possibility of elections swayed by political and government power. But the Internet has increased the chances of spreading false information with a growing number of election crimes. Verifying candidates is important. However, spreading rumors undermines the fair judgment of voters and violates the rights of candidates. That requires severe punishment.”

wing@donga.com