“I have been infected by covid-19. This was due to my inattention, because I ignored the government's advice and everyone around me ”.
That's how K-pop star Kim Jae-joong wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. The post was not only the subject of criticism, but also of scrutiny by South Korean authorities.
Now, the star, who sings in the K-pop duo JYJ, faces fines or imprisonment for five years for spreading false information about the corona virus, the South China Morning Post reports.
The fact that Kim Jae-joong deleted the post and stated in yet another post that everything was an April joke for the purpose of spreading knowledge about the virus does not seem to be a mitigating circumstance by the authorities.
"They involve the dissemination of false information, so we are discussing exactly how the punishment should be carried out," said a spokesperson for South Korea's infection protection center, according to the South China morning post.
Kim Jae-joong's two posts were deleted following sharp criticism from his 1.9 million followers on Instagram.