A controversial American YouTuber was sentenced to six months in a South Korea labor prison after he obscenely disrespected a monument honoring wartime sex slaves.
Johnny Somali, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, was found guilty of multiple charges including obstruction of business and distributing fabricated sexually explicit content by the Seoul Western District Court on Wednesday.
In October 2024, Somali, 25, caused outrage when he uploaded a video of himself kissing and performing a lap dance on the Statue of Peace. The Seoul monument pays homage to the women sexually abused and trafficked during wartime.
Somali had also been accused of harassing staff and visitors at an amusement park.
He also disrupted a convenience store by blasting music and upending noodles onto a table.
The YouTube star had also streamed himself causing chaos on public transportation, all of which the court said amounted to ‘severe’ disrespect for the East Asian country.
Somali was immediately detained after being sentenced to prison because he was considered a flight risk.
On his X bio, the content creator describes himself as a ‘Political Prisoner in South Korea on Trial for Freedom of Speech and Expression.’
The monument that Somali defiled pays homage to comfort women, which is how the roughly 200,000 women who were forced to be wartime sex slaves for Japanese soldiers were known, according to NPR.
Prosecutors had originally sought three years in prison for Somali before he received the lesser sentence.
The court cited the absence of severe harm to victims when deciding Somali’s prison term, according to the Korea Herald.
Somali was also barred for five years from working at institutions serving minors and people with disabilities when he is released from prison.
‘The defendant repeatedly committed crimes against unspecified members of the public to generate profit via YouTube and distributed the content in disregard of Korean law,’ the court said, per the outlet.
Somali spoke to reporters before entering court and addressed his actions, which was caught on video by South Korean outlet YTN.
‘I think justice will be served,’ said Somali, whose YouTube channel has seemingly been deleted or deactivated since the videos in question.
‘I’m remorseful,’ he added. ‘I’m sorry for my crimes.’
Somali had posted April 6 on X that ‘corrupt governments don’t like when you fight back against bullshit charges.’
‘I’ll be publicly releasing all of the court documents, evidence and police interrogations very soon,’ he claimed at the time.
Should foreign influencers who disrespect local culture face harsher penalties?
Somali admitted that he missed his family in the US ‘dearly’ during a pre–detention hearing, according to The Chosun Daily.
‘I admit I made a big mistake and must take responsibility, but I’m still young and want a chance to start anew,’ he said, per the outlet.
He had previously been banned from leaving South Korea while police investigated his crimes.
Somali is a little-known internet streamer who currently has 825 followers on X, where he lists his current location as ‘North Korea.’
He also faced backlash in the past for controversial stunts in other countries, including Japan, where he was accused of trespassing.
In 2023, Somali was arrested after police said he broke into a hotel construction site in Osaka, according to Japanese outlet Asahi.
Video from the incident showed him yelling ‘Fukushima’ repeatedly after construction workers repeatedly asked him to leave.
The footage was uploaded on YouTube, which helped lead to Somali’s arrest, the outlet reported.
