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Aug. 25 (UPI) -- An elderly South Korean man is being fined more than $4,400 after fabricating online rumors a former first lady is planning to wed hip-hop musician Andre Romelle Young, better known by his stage name Dr. Dre. Lee Eun-hee, a judge in Seoul district court, fined the defendant, 73, for defamation, local news service News 1 reported Friday.
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The defendant, whose name is being withheld, had written on his personal blog on South Korea's Naver platform former first lady Lee Hee-ho, the widow of the deceased South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, was marrying Dr. Dre, one of America's wealthiest celebrities, in order to launder money that once belonged to her husband.
"In order to launder former President Kim's slush funds, Madame Lee is to marry Dr. Dre," the defendant recently wrote.
That statement was sufficient for the man to be tried and charged with defamation in South Korea.
The judge said Friday the defendant "violated the honor of the deceased [president] and the victim," a reference to the former first lady.
Lee Eun-hee also said there is no evidence Lee Hee-ho, 95, manages a slush fund, and that the rumor of the marriage is "definitely not true."
South Korea has often been spotlighted for its strict cyber defamation laws, which allow police to crack down on hateful statements without the victims' consent.
Lee Hee-ho visited North Korea in 2015 in the "spirit of reconciliation," but ended up not meeting Kim Jong Un.
Kim Dae-jung was the first South Korean president to meet with former leader Kim Jong Il at a landmark summit in 2000.
