Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
A hidden camera disguised as a portable charger was found in the room of actress Shin Se Kyung and Bomi of A Pink in September of last year while they were overseas filming for O’live‘s ‘Pocha Beyond Borders‘. Today it was announced that the perpetrator — an equipment staffer from what the show said was an outsourced company in charge of cameras — was given three years probation after he had previously admitted to all charges.
A sentencing hearing for Kim was held on July 10 on charges including intrusion and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (filming using a camera). Judge Kwon Young Hye of the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced him to a prison sentence of one year and six months, suspended for three years of probation. This means that if he commits an offense during the three years of probation, he will serve the sentenced time in prison. In addition, Kim was ordered to carry out 40 hours of sexual violence treatment courses and 120 hours of community service.
The court went on to explain the reasoning behind probation over prison, and also said why the perpetrator’s identity remained private.
The court stated, “The nature of the crime is not good when considering the motive, content, means, and methods of the crime of secretly installing a camera in a place where a person’s privacy should be respected.” They added, “Their responsibility is heavy as they betrayed the trust of the victims and used their status as a member of the filming crew to commit this crime.” It was stated that the court had considered factors including Kim admitting to the crimes since the initial investigation stage, his lack of a prior criminal record, and the fact that there had been no further damage as the camera had been confiscated and no footage had been leaked. While the prosecution had demanded the disclosure of Kim’s personal information, the court stated they would not be including that in the sentence. The court said, “We do not sentence the accused to disclose their personal information in consideration of their age, occupation, and family background, in addition to the fact that there appears to be a considerable degree of prevention of repeated offenses through simply the registration of personal information and sexual violence treatment courses.”
As noted by the court, there was fortunately nothing leaked. However, from the perspective of Shin Se Kyung and Bomi, this surely looks like a slap on the wrist for what was a gross violation of their privacy that happened just because the perpetrator was curious (in his own words).
