Actor Park Si-hoo [Yonhap]
Actor Park Si-hoo [Yonhap]

A person who publicly claimed that actor Park Si-hoo had destroyed their family has been sentenced to prison on charges of defamation through false statements.

The Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to 10 months in prison on Oct. 22 for violations of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and the Personal Information Protection Act, YTN reported Thursday.

A had posted on Instagram last August, writing that Park had introduced women to the poster's ex-husband and played a major role in breaking up the family — including the phrase "You should have known when to stop. You were the key link between my ex-husband and other women, and you bear a large share of responsibility for destroying this family." A also published KakaoTalk conversations between the ex-husband and Park, and claimed to have recorded phone calls as evidence.

Park's representatives rebuffed the claims, saying Park had never introduced any woman to the ex-husband and that the posts were plainly false.

The court found that A's allegations constituted false statements of fact.

In handing down the 10-month sentence, the court said the harm caused by the offense was serious, that the defendant had not been forgiven by the victims, and that petitions had been submitted calling for a severe punishment.

Park's side said the spread of false information had caused significant disruption to film openings and other entertainment activities.

The defendant has appealed the 10-month sentence. Park's side is also pursuing a separate civil damages lawsuit alongside the criminal proceedings.

Park debuted in the 2005 KBS2 drama series "Sassy Girl Chun-hyang" and rose to stardom by winning the New Star Award at the 2007 SBS Drama Awards, the Best Actor Award in the special planning category at the 2009 SBS Drama Awards, the Best Actor Award at the 2010 MBC Drama Awards, and both the Grand Prize for Acting and the Popularity Award for male actors at the 2011 KBS Drama Awards. In 2013, however, Park was accused of sexual assault; the case was dropped after the complainant withdrew the accusation, but the episode dealt a serious blow to Park's public image.


paq@heraldcorp.com