[NEWS]Ā [Interview] āMalicious commenters are criminalsā, said broadcaster Kim Heechul who came to the police station.
[Note: Heechul has asked for this article to be spread, so I am sharing it here. Heechul asked the media to not name him as āSuper Juniorās Kim Heechulā because he wants to treat this lawsuit as a personal and separate thing from the group and the company. He said he did it by himself.]Ā
āThey made so many people cry,ā he said. āI have no intention of taking good care of them. Even if the agreement is reached, the settlement money willĀ be handed over to the lawyer, and I will not accept it."Ā
On the 21st, Kim Heechul filed a complaint with the police after collecting tens of thousands of malicious comments with his fans for three months. The charges applied to haters are defamation and insult, underĀ the Information and Communication Network Act.Ā
Q: What are the malicious comments you submitted to the police?Ā
HC:Ā Itās too much for words to convey. There are one-dimensional accusations of "want to killā and ālike an X,ā and there are many sexual taunts. They make fun of their own terms that they donāt want to mention. Such as, the late President or the contents related to a female celebrity they are close to. In particular, it is too closely related to my acquaintance who has gone to heaven.Ā
Q: How many people are being sued?Ā
HC: [The lawyer] wrote down dozens of haters who had no choice but to respond legally. I collected tens of thousands of cases but didnāt have enough time to organize them. Weāll catch as many as we can, hundreds, thousands.
Q: What do you think about malicious comments?Ā
HC:Ā There have always been a lot of malicious comments since I started being a celebrity. Because Iām a celebrity and a public figure, I just thought, āIām going to live without looking at it, we should humbly acceptĀ freedom of expression.ā But I felt it as I was going through bad things with my younger brothers. āI shouldnāt do this.ā Recently, not only celebrities but also everyone else is suffering from malicious comments. The most infuriating moment was⦠itās when I saw the commentĀ "you wonāt be able to sue me anyway.ā Comments poured on me as my close acquaintances went to heaven, but these malicious comments caught my eye. He seemed to think I wouldnāt be able to sue. Most celebrities canāt sue because of their image, and even if they sue, it seems likeĀ itās because they are good-natured. āIāll take good care of you anyway.āĀ
Ā Q: Did the malicious comments disappear after that? Ā Ā
HC: I donāt know if they are secretly posting malicious comments, but they are not immediately visible. When the party finds all the malicious comments, the "mentalityā really collapses.Ā Itās the same as listening to "kim heechul, dieā from 100 people a day. So I made a tip-off mail on April 22. Nearly 100,000 fans have sent them. At first, the legal team, who was checking the mail, tried not to show me malicious comments because I was afraid I would get hurt.Ā
The reason for saying āno good willā, the police investigator said too, is when one sees the perpetrator in person, he or she often takes good care of him or her. The perpetratorās situation is pitiful. And celebrities sometimes take good care of their image. However, the reason why I said I had no leniency is for those who hesitated to file malicious comments. Iām being beaten, but I canāt take courage. Donāt worry about it. I hope you never take good care of it.Ā
The reaction of a fellow entertainer supports me a lot. IU & Kim Gayeon also gave me advice. Especially I remember the support of young junior entertainers. "Weāre still rookies and we donāt know how to deal with it because weāre young,ā he said. āI hope [Heechul] wins."Ā
Q: What do you want to say to the haters?Ā
HC: I donāt want to explain my situation to them 1 by 1. Itās not worth it. I want to see if I can do it at the police station, like tapping on the keyboard in front of the computer, youāve made a lot of people suffer and cry so youāll be punished that much.
Translated by heebunimĀ
Original Article: HereĀ
ELF support Heechul throughout this process. We are proud of him for taking this action to protect himself, his loved ones, and the memory of his close friends who are no longer in this world.Ā