Ex-Kakao CEO cleared of negligence in porn distribution

Lee Sir-goo, former co-CEO of Kakao, enters the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi Province to appear before his final trial, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Jun Ji-hye

Lee Sir-goo, former co-CEO of Kakao, has been found not guilty of failing to prevent the distribution of pornography featuring children and minors on the firm's mobile community service.

Judge Oh Taek-won of the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court declared Lee not guilty, Tuesday, saying, "There is no supporting evidence that Lee, who was one of the co-CEOs, was involved in the decision-making process related to the case."

Lee was indicted by the prosecution without physical detention in November 2015 on charges of violating the law on the protection of children and minors against sex offenses.

At the time, the prosecution said Lee failed to take proper measures to block the distribution of 745 pornography videos featuring children and minors between June and August of 2014, resulting in the videos being distributed to about 7,000 users through the Kakao's now defunct mobile community service, Kakao Group.

The law calls for punishing an online service provider who does not take technical measures such as eliminating pornography featuring children and minors and stopping their transmission.

In December last year, the prosecution demanded the court fine Lee 10 million won ($9,000).

Kakao is an operator of the nation's largest messaging app Kakao Talk.

Currently, Lee is CEO of Dunamu, which runs the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit.

Kakao holds about a 20 percent stake in Dunamu.

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