BUSAN — A YouTuber in his 20s who repeatedly produced and posted false videos about the 1980 Gwangju Uprising and the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, earning about 250 million won ($180,000) in revenue, has been referred to prosecutors. Investigators found he used generative artificial intelligence to make the videos.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 21st that it had referred the man, identified only as A, to prosecutors without detention on charges of violating the Framework Act on Telecommunications and the Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement.
Police said A posted 34 videos containing false claims about the Gwangju Uprising and the Itaewon crowd crush on two YouTube channels he operated, starting March 19 this year. The videos drew a combined 1.2 million views, and each channel had about 20,000 subscribers.
The videos included claims that the Gwangju Uprising was a riot instigated by North Korean troops and that the Itaewon crowd crush was a staged event planned and fabricated in advance. Police believe A knew the content was false but continued posting it to draw views and advertising revenue.
Investigators found that A used generative AI to produce the videos, processing false information into video form and circulating it repeatedly to boost views and earnings.
A initially posted the videos on a single channel but opened an additional one after his revenue account was blocked following user reports, police said. The criminal proceeds from the two channels totaled about 250 million won.
Police applied for a pre-indictment order to preserve the proceeds for forfeiture, and the court approved the measure for the full 250 million won.
"Spreading false claims about the Gwangju Uprising and the Itaewon and Sewol ferry disasters goes beyond damaging the honor of the victims and their families — it propagates a distorted understanding of history and can cause social confusion," a police official said. "We will investigate the production and distribution of clearly false information strictly, in accordance with the law and principle."
