Author Park Soon-hyuk, known as "Battery ajeossi," attends a retail investor forum. [Newsis]
Author Park Soon-hyuk, known as "Battery ajeossi," attends a retail investor forum. [Newsis]

A Seoul court upheld a fine against Park Soon-hyuk, the YouTuber known as "Battery ajeossi," who claimed on his channel that Kim Hee-young — the partner of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and head of the T&C Foundation — was a Chinese spy.

The Fifth Criminal Division of the Seoul Eastern District Court ruled Friday that the original sentence of 7 million won ($5,220) in fines would stand. Park had been indicted on charges of defamation through the publication of false information under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.

"The prosecution appealed on the grounds that the sentence was too lenient, but the sentence appears appropriate," the court said. Park is a former public relations director at Kumyang, a secondary battery company, and built a following under the "Battery ajeossi" nickname by appearing on multiple YouTube channels to advocate for the importance of the battery industry.

Park faces charges of spreading false information, including claiming on his YouTube channel last year that Kim was likely a Chinese spy.

Park left Kumyang in 2023 and currently runs a YouTube channel with about 120,000 subscribers.

In the first trial, the court found the charges proven and sentenced Park to the 7 million won fine, noting that the potential for the content to spread was considerable given the nature of the medium.

Prosecutors appealed, arguing the sentence was too light, and at the final hearing on Oct. 2 again sought a prison term of eight months — the same sentence they had requested at trial.


husn7@heraldcorp.com