American YouTuber Johnny Somali has been sentenced to six months in prison for his 2024 act of public nuisance when he filmed himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves. South Korean authorities indicted Somali, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country.
In October 2024, the 25-year-old YouTuber posted several videos provoking South Koreans. He sang the North Korean national anthem, spilled noodles inside a convenience store, got into several heated arguments with strangers etc. Then he uploaded a video of himself kissing and twerking eside a statue memoralizing Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japanese occupying forces before and during World War II, referred to as "comfort women" in Japan.
