Sisa Tapa Lee Jong-won Accused of Habitual False Accusation and Defamation

The Civic Action for Judicial Justice held a press conference to accuse Sisa Tapa's Lee Jong-won of habitual false accusation and defamation by spreading false information. They claimed that Lee Jong-won confused the entire democratic camp and, in particular, illegally contaminated the public opinion poll for the Democratic Party's national convention. Lee Jong-won is currently already under investigation for charges of obstruction of business and violation of the Political Parties Act.

Lee Jong-won repeatedly stated in his broadcast, Sisa Tapa, in front of thousands of viewers, that he was a full member of the Democratic Party. It was confirmed that he mentioned his party affiliation more than twenty times this year alone. Despite this, the group claims that his lawsuit against Chairman Kim Min-seok for violating the Personal Information Protection Act by disclosing Lee Jong-won's party membership contradicts his own statements and constitutes clear false accusation.

The press conference statement criticized Lee Jong-won for committing acts of obstruction of business by contaminating the Democratic Party's national convention public opinion poll with foul play and illegality, yet continuing to file numerous lawsuits without remorse. The group labeled Lee Jong-won as a 'cancerous entity of the democratic camp' and strongly demanded a swift arrest and investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. They emphasized that such actions are causing serious harm to the democratic camp.

On August 17, 2026, a 'president assassination threat post' in the chat window of President Lee Jae-myung's congratulatory video became controversial. Subsequently, reporter Lee Sang-ho first reported on suspicions of the chat post's fabrication. Lee Jong-won claimed that he first reported on the fabricated post in his broadcast late on the night of August 18, 2026. However, he sued CEO Kim Han-myeong for defamation by spreading false information under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., over content broadcast by Kim Han-myeong earlier on the afternoon of August 18. This is pointed out as a false claim inconsistent with the timing of the incident's occurrence and awareness.

Lee Jong-won is suspected of inducing viewers of his YouTube channel 'Sisa Tapa TV' to give false responses in the Democratic Party's national convention opinion poll by misrepresenting their age group and region. For example, he made statements such as, 'The 40s and 50s age groups are full, so you should choose the 20s and 30s age groups,' 'Seoul and Gyeonggi are full, so you should choose other regions like Gangwon, Gyeongbuk,' and 'Be quick-witted and respond smartly.' Due to these actions, Lee Jong-won was accused by the Democratic Party of obstruction of business by deception and is currently under investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Investigation Unit.

On the morning of August 28, 2026, CEO Kim Han-myeong asked Democratic Party Assemblyman Kim Moon-soo about criminal charges and disciplinary action against Lee Jong-won by the Democratic Party. Kim Han-myeong messaged via Telegram, "It would be desirable for the Democratic Party to directly sue Lee Jong-won as a victim, when will you do it?" and Assemblyman Kim Moon-soo replied, "They already did it." In a phone call about an hour later, Assemblyman Kim reconfirmed that the Democratic Party had sued Lee Jong-won. This content was covered in the August 28, 2026 broadcast of Judicial Justice TV.

On August 31, 2026, Lee Jong-won announced on the Sisa Tapa TV bulletin board that he had sued CEO Kim Han-myeong and current affairs critic Kim Seong-soo for defamation by spreading false information under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc., claiming that the Democratic Party had not sued him and they had spread false information. However, on September 3, 2026, multiple media reports, including Hankook Ilbo, informed the public that the Democratic Party had accused Lee Jong-won. Lee Jong-won also sued Chairman Kim Min-seok over his SNS post.

Lee Jong-won sued CEO Kim Han-myeong for mentioning the president assassination threat post fabrication in a broadcast when he was completely unaware of the facts. The civic action group claims that this is a clear false accusation because Lee Jong-won himself first revealed the fabrication at around 11 PM on August 18, 2026, yet he filed a criminal complaint against CEO Kim Han-myeong for broadcasting content approximately 8 hours earlier, as if Kim knew in advance and intentionally spread false information. Furthermore, they stated that Lee Jong-won's lawsuit against Chairman Kim Min-seok for violating the Personal Information Protection Act, despite knowing he was a Democratic Party member, also constitutes false accusation.

Despite media reports objectively confirming that the Democratic Party had accused Lee Jong-won, Lee Jong-won slandered CEO Kim Han-myeong, suggesting he was someone who spread false information without verifying facts. The Civic Action for Judicial Justice asserts that such false slander significantly lowered CEO Kim Han-myeong's social reputation, and therefore, Lee Jong-won should be held accountable for defamation by spreading false information under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. This is also related to the defamation charge against Chairman Kim Min-seok.

The civic action group urged that the constitutional principle of equality before the law should not be applied differently to a specific individual, thereby undermining public trust in the criminal justice system. They strongly requested a thorough investigation and strict punishment for the charges against Lee Jong-won, a prominent YouTuber with a special relationship to the former ruling party chairman. They emphasized that this is a demand on behalf of countless citizens who desire judicial justice.

The speaker emphasized that YouTube channels with over 100,000 subscribers should bear responsibilities equivalent to traditional media. According to the '77 Law,' if false information or fake news is published or spread, legal responsibility is imposed to compensate the victim up to five times the profit gained. The civic action group stated that they are also considering a claim for damages against Lee Jong-won based on this law. This is a measure to strengthen the accountability of YouTube channel operations.

The speaker claimed that Lee Jong-won's lawsuits constitute 'false accusation,' citing three cases. First, regarding the Democratic Party's obstruction of business accusation, Lee Jong-won counter-sued for spreading false information, claiming CEO Kim Han-myeong miscommunicated. Second, Lee Jong-won sued over content broadcast by the speaker on the afternoon of August 18, before the speaker was even aware of the president assassination threat post fabrication. It was pointed out that this is inconsistent, as Lee Jong-won himself only revealed the fact on Sisa Tapa TV 8 hours later on the same night. Third, the lawsuit against Chairman Kim Min-seok for disclosing Lee Jong-won's party membership information was also stated to be a false accusation.

The case in which the Democratic Party accused Lee Jong-won has been assigned to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Public Investigation Unit. Additionally, full members of the Democratic Party have also separately accused Lee Jong-won, and these cases will be handled together. The speaker stated that evidence, including 200 text messages, to prove Lee Jong-won's illegal activities has been secured, and urged for a coercive investigation based on this evidence. They also announced plans for additional actions, such as one-person protests and rallies, to pressure the investigation into Lee Jong-won.

On the New Tam Sa bulletin board, video materials are systematically organized and posted showing Lee Jong-won stating in his broadcasts that he is a full member and a Democratic Party member. It was confirmed that this year alone, he mentioned 'I left the party' twice in 20 instances, and there are videos where he states 'I voted directly,' and 'As a full member, I voted in Gyeonggi-do.' These pieces of evidence demonstrate that Lee Jong-won himself was aware of and active as a party member, and they support the unfairness of his lawsuit against Chairman Kim Min-seok for violating the Personal Information Protection Act, it was claimed.