Hong was arrested after allegedly pretending to be a Sewol Ferry rescue diver and giving a false interview to MBN on April 18, two days after the Sewol Ferry incident. She said in the broadcasted interview, "[The rescue divers] are not getting the equipment the maritime police promised [them], and the government personnel told [them] just to waste time and go," implying that rescue efforts were lacking.
Shortly after Hong's false interview, netizens also found that Hong had a long history of lying and impersonation. Hong previously impersonated Hwayoung's cousin to spread rumors and add fuel to T-ara's bullying scandal. She also pretended to be a reporter in order to get close to other celebrities such as B1A4.
When Hong turned herself into the police, however, Hong claimed that she never told MBN that she was a diver and that she gave the interview as a Sewol Ferry volunteer to report concerning rumors that she heard. Hong was released from jail with bail on July 31 and has been attending her court trials ever since. Prosecution demanded that she receive one year and six months in jail as penalty if she was found guilty.
In the end, Hong was declared not guilty of defamation. The Department of Justice commented on the verdict, saying, "We believe that Ms. Hong wrote on Kakao and gave the broadcasted interview in order to encourage the rescue efforts to be more active." They continued, "It is difficult to believe that she spread false information and that she damaged the reputation of the maritime police."
They assured the public, "This decision was not made to justify the defendant's behavior or to forgive the defendant." They further noted, "Many of the points [made against Hong] were inaccurate [but] somewhere along the line we felt that the defendant's attitude was suspicious," perhaps saying that Hong was behaving strangely despite the "not guilty" verdict.
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