A Seoul court on Wednesday sentenced American YouTuber Johnny Somali to six months in prison after finding him guilty of public nuisance and related offenses tied to a series of provocative stunts in South Korea, including a video showing him dancing and kissing a statue honoring victims of wartime sexual slavery.
The statue is a memorial to women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II, a subject that remains deeply sensitive in South Korea. The act drew widespread public outrage, and the video was later removed.
Somali, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, posted the video in October 2024 at the Statue of Peace in Seoul, where he was seen kissing the monument and performing a lap dance or lewd dance in front of it. The same reports said he later apologized and claimed he did not understand the statue's significance, according to ABC News.
In his apology, he said he wanted to apologize to Koreans and said his behavior was meant to entertain viewers in the United States. He also said he realized South Korea was a place where that kind of behavior was unacceptable.
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Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term for Ismael, saying the case involved more than one incident and included accusations that he harassed staff and visitors at an amusement park, caused a disturbance in a convenience store by blasting music and dumping noodles onto a table, and created similar scenes on a bus and subway, NBC News reported.
They also said he distributed non-consensual deepfake videos, adding to the legal case against him.
The court's sentence came after Somali had already faced other legal trouble in South Korea linked to disruptive public behavior and other livestreamed acts. Reporting on the case said authorities had barred him from leaving the country while the legal process continued, as per the Korea Times.
