aespa's Karina, Winter Deepfake Seller Sentenced to 2.5 Years

A man who produced and sold deepfake videos of aespa members Karina and Winter has been sentenced to prison in South Korea.

The Daegu High Court's First Criminal Division sentenced the man, identified only by his surname, to two years and six months in prison for creating deepfake videos of the two singers and distributing them for profit, SM Entertainment said Thursday. The court also ordered him to complete 80 hours of a sexual violence treatment program and barred him from working at institutions related to children and adolescents for seven years.

SM Entertainment said it has continued to monitor online posts and comments tied to aespa. The agency said it collected a large volume of posts and comments from online communities and social media through fan reports and its own monitoring, and filed a criminal complaint with investigators based on that material. Some of the people named in the complaint have been identified, and the investigation is ongoing.

The agency is also gathering evidence on other acts that it says violate aespa's rights, including the spread of false claims, the creation of malicious rumors, sexually harassing posts, and the distribution of insulting or distorted content. After review, SM Entertainment said it plans to expand the scope of its legal response.