Prosecutors have taken steps to preserve assets owned by Kim Se-ui, head of the YouTube channel Hover Lab, who was arrested and indicted on charges of defaming actor Kim Soo-hyun, in an effort to recover suspected criminal proceeds.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department, led by Senior Prosecutor So Jung-su, announced on Sept. 15 that it had completed the registration of a provisional seizure on land owned by Kim on Sept. 10, in connection with suspected criminal proceeds totaling 169.4 million won.
A provisional seizure is a court-ordered measure that freezes a defendant’s assets before a criminal case is finalized, preventing the defendant from concealing or disposing of the assets. The seizure or provisional seizure is then recorded on the property registry.
The Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department said that after Kim’s arrest, it worked with the Women and Children’s Crime Investigation Division 2 to identify a larger amount of suspected criminal proceeds than the amount initially identified by police.
Police had previously estimated the proceeds at about 5.44 million won and applied for a provisional seizure. However, the court rejected the request on June 25, citing the relatively small amount of proceeds compared with the value of the real estate and finding that asset preservation was unnecessary.
Following a further investigation, prosecutors determined that Kim had received at least 54.4 million won in donations and earned at least 115 million won in advertising revenue from content related to the alleged defamation of Kim Soo-hyun. Prosecutors subsequently sought a provisional seizure of Kim’s assets, and the court granted the request.
Kim was arrested and indicted on June 23 on charges of uploading YouTube videos between March and December last year that portrayed Kim Soo-hyun as having been in a six-year relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron, beginning when she was 15, despite the absence of such a relationship. Prosecutors allege that he used arbitrarily edited KakaoTalk chat screenshots and fabricated audio recordings to make the relationship appear genuine.
At the first preparatory hearing held on Sept. 11 before Criminal Division 26 of the Seoul Central District Court, Kim’s legal team denied all charges and asked the court to acquit him.
Meanwhile, following Kim’s arrest, Hover Lab has continued operating its YouTube channel, with individuals including music director Lee Han, who composed and arranged the music for the musical "Park Chung-hee," helping run the channel.
In a letter from prison, Kim appealed for help, saying, "Even the money deposited into my prison account has been provisionally seized, so I don’t even have money to buy bottled water, toilet paper, toothpaste or a toothbrush." He also said, "Hover Lab’s donations have fallen to one-tenth of their previous level, and last month the director couldn’t even receive his salary."
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)
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