The judge of the Changwon District Court on July 13th fined a 48-year-old man 500,000 KRW (415 USD) for posting malicious comments on photos of the female idol Sunmi.

The Changwon District Court judged that the 48-year-old man had infringed on the rights of the female idol by posting vulgar comments, which can cause women shame and humiliation, on the web where numerous people can see. However, the court set the fine at 500,000 KRW (Approximately 415 USD), considering that the man only wrote these comments once and that he had no criminal record. Last December, the 48-year-old man commented "She looks like a bar hostess" on a photo of Sunmi. Since then, Sunmi's agency claimed a lawsuit against the man, and the man was indicted without detention.

Meanwhile, netizens are divided when it comes to the matter of this incident. Some say that the man shouldn't have commented in such a way and glad he received a fine, while other netizens say that the man has the right to freedom of speech.

Netizens commented:

"He's 48 years old. He's basically saying to a girl who can be his daughter's age that she looks like a bar hostess."

"I don't know why he would leave comments like that at his age."

"He didn't say something that offensive. It was only his opinion, he hasn't said anything like false rumors."
"It's only his opinion that he wrote. Don't get why he has to be sued."
"How pathetic that a 48-year-old man would do that."
"So the court is saying that being a bar hostess is an insulting job."

"I can't believe this is a crime though. Freedom of speech? Only in Korea can you be fined for saying that about a celebrity."