Lee Jun-seok fined netizen for false China Communist Party claim

Lee Jun-seok, leader of South Korea's Reform Party, was the target of a false online post that alleged he was linked to the Chinese Communist Party and that his father was a Chinese businessman. The post was made by a user identified as A on a Naver café on 6 February.

The Changwon District Court found the statements defamatory under the Information and Communications Network Act and issued a summary order, imposing a fine of 500,000 won on the user. Lee posted the court’s order on his Facebook page, saying, “I hope those who profit from and incite such malicious false facts in the political arena are eradicated.”