South Korea jails American YouTuber for public nuisance

American livestreamer Johnny Somali, who caused outrage in South Korea by kissing a statue representing World War Two sex slaves, has been sentenced to six months in jail.

Seoul authorities charged him for public nuisance in November 2024 after he posted a clip of himself kissing and performing lap dances on the statue while visiting South Korea. He has been barred from leaving the country since then.

The 25-year-old, whose real name is Ismael Ramsey Khalid, is known for his provocative content which has led to him being banned from several streaming platforms.

He has also been accused of harassing people while travelling in Japan and Israel.

On Wednesday a South Korean court convicted Khalid of multiple charges, including for being a public nuisance and distributing sexual deepfakes.

"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, according to South Korean media.

Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term, but the judges handed down a lower sentence while noting the "absence of severe harm to victims", The Korea Herald reported.

Khalid has also been barred from working with organisations that serve minors and people with disabilities when he is eventually released.

During World War Two, an estimated 200,000 women around Asia were forced to be wartime sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. Many of them were Korean, while others came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.

There are several statues across South Korea, usually depicting a young woman seated in a chair, which have been installed by activists to remember these "comfort women". The statues have in the past caused diplomatic tensions, as South Korea has long called for reparations from Japan for these women.

Khalid, who has around 5,000 followers on YouTube, had apologised in November 2024 saying he "didn't understand the significance of the statue". But many users expressed scepticism of his sincerity.

While investigations were ongoing in South Korea, Khalid had challenged locals to fight him. Several videos on social media show him being punched and chased along the streets.

Earlier he had caused a scene on public transportation, vandalised a convenience store, and streamed obscene videos in public.

Earlier in 2024, Khalid was detained at a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, for making inappropriate remarks towards a female police officer, but later released.

While in Japan in 2023, he taunted locals with, among other things, his comments on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the final days of World War Two.

He was later fined 200,000 yen ($1,400) after disrupting business in a restaurant by playing loud music.