The first-instance court has sentenced Kim Ou-joon to a fine of 20 million won for defaming former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae. [Photo: Yonhap News]

The first-instance court has sentenced Kim Ou-joon to a fine of 20 million won for defaming former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae. 

Let’s set aside all emotions and rely solely on cold, hard calculation. The price for stripping a young reporter of his career, forcing him to undergo custodial investigations, and effectively ruining his life—leaving him unable to engage in social activities and essentially broken—is a mere 20 million won.

Of course, this verdict will not bankrupt Mr. Kim by any means. Given his vast financial resources and the YouTube Super Chat revenue he rakes in every morning, 20 million won—or even several times that amount if he were to face a future civil lawsuit—is nothing more than spare change that he could cover with just a few days’ worth of broadcast earnings.

What a cheap and efficient business model it is to completely dismantle another person's life while simultaneously solidifying the unity of one's own political camp.

However, the real point of interest sparked by this dry court ruling isn't his thick wallet, but the fact that the current left-wing regime—which he brought into existence with his own body and soul—has now been placed on a very peculiar "litmus test of logic."

There is a magic incantation he has used like a sacred shield every time he incites the public: "Don't be a coward." With this single phrase, he has been the primary contributor to rallying his fanatical followers and mobilizing the masses to create the power we see today.

And yet, what is the most ambitious work this administration has recently produced? It is the so-called "gag law," which mandates punitive damages of up to five times the actual harm for disseminating false or manipulated information under the guise of eradicating fake news.

Coincidentally, on the very first day this "gag law" took effect, former reporter Lee Dong-jae reported Kim Ou-joon to the authorities as the "No. 1 case for legal application," requesting sanctions against Kim’s videos containing fake news.

Former Channel A reporter Lee Dong-jae reported Kim Ou-joon to authorities as the first person to be subject to the law, requesting sanctions for his fake news videos on the first day the "gag law" went into effect. [Photo: Yonhap News]

So, the regime built a massive financial guillotine using state power to silence its opponents, but it turns out the neck first placed under that blade is that of a "convicted spreader of false information," as officially certified by the court.

It is a stunning comedy of causality: the founding father of this regime is the first to be beaten by the club that his very own creation sharpened.

However, we must ask a cold and dispassionate question: will this fierce "gag law" actually function fairly even when faced with Kim Ou-joon, the "chief high priest" of his political camp?

If he manages to dodge the penalties of this law, it will paradoxically serve as a perfect self-incriminating declaration, proving to the world just how cheap and biased a weapon of dictatorship this law truly is.

We have the fake prophet who bravely pushed the public forward, telling them, "Don't be a coward," and the mindless cartel that blindly followed that incitement to birth today's power. Yet, thanks to the massive financial guillotine of "punitive damages" created by that very power, the entire nation is now forced to live in permanent "cowardice," self-censoring even the smallest words on the tips of their tongues. This is the brilliant irony.

Faced with this cynical black comedy, where the cost of the incitement to "not be a coward" has returned as a "legalized cowardice" that intimidates the entire nation, one can only let out a cold and chilling smirk.

Regardless, it is a small, refreshing victory, and I send a round of applause to reporter Lee Dong-jae.

◆ Author Park Joo-hyun

Composer, music director, columnist, and essayist. Through active engagement on Facebook regarding political, current, and social issues, Park has garnered broad public resonance. Author of the essay collection *Crossing the Stormy Sea*.