Malicious comment of Suzy upheld as insult after 8 years in court

The Supreme Court concluded that a man who wrote online comments about actor Bae Suzy using the expression "national hotel girl" is guilty of insulting her, confirming the lower court's sentence of a fine of 500,000 won ($390), Thursday, nearly eight years after the offense occurred.

On Oct. 29, 2015, a man in his 40s wrote in an online comment about Suzy: "A bubble created by media manipulation, just a national hotel girl."

The first trial had concluded that the expression used in the comments was an insult in violation of Article 311 of the Korean Criminal Act, but on appeal the man was ruled innocent. The judge in the appeal ruled that different standards should be applied to celebrities when judging whether comments constitute criminal insult, considering they are the subject of public attention.

The Supreme Court, however, reversed the appellate court’s decision and ruled the man guilty of insult. “The expression ‘national hotel girl’ implies the opposite image of what Bae had established during her career, and it denounces her by sexually objectifying her," the Supreme Court said.