A 40-year-old woman who repeatedly left malicious comments targeting the singer and actress IU has once again been fined for defamation. Judge Im Jeong-bin of the Seoul Central District Court sentenced the defendant, Ms. Kim, to a fine of 3 million Korean won for the charge of defamation on the 5th. Kim has a previous record of receiving a fine for a similar offense in 2023. Kim was indicted for posting comments on a news article related to IU’s agency, EDAM Entertainment, on a portal site around February 2023, including sexually inappropriate expressions along with the sentence “Did you bribe the judge?” Kim claimed during the trial that the comments were not written by her, but the court did not accept this defense. The court stated, “Considering the common meaning and context of the expressions, the defendant’s comments are clearly defamatory and personally attacking,” and judged that “such remarks, which are difficult to accept socially, can damage the victim’s social reputation.” Furthermore, Kim did not show a repentant attitude, failed to reach an agreement with the victim, and has a history of being punished TWICE before for the same crime. This ruling pertains to the offense committed by Kim before December 2023. IU’s agency, EDAM Entertainment, has been consistently taking legal actions against malicious commenters. As of November last year, the number of defendants sued exceeded 180, and legal actions are ongoing. According to the agency, so far, there have been 6 cases of fines, 3 cases of conditional prosecution with educational requirements, and 1 case of conditional prosecution with probation under the supervision of a probation office. IU is considered one of the artists who take the strongest stance against spreading false information and malicious posts within the entertainment industry. This ruling is evaluated as a reminder of the boundary between freedom of expression online and infringement of personal rights.