A South Korean court on Wednesday sentenced an American YouTuber, Johnny Somali, to six months’ imprisonment after being convicted of public nuisance and distributing sexual deepfakes.

The Seoul Western District Court found Mr Somali guilty of multiple charges after authorities charged him in November 2024 for posting videos of himself kissing and making inappropriate gestures toward a statue of “comfort women.”

“Comfort women” are about 200,000 females from Indonesia, Taiwan, China, Korea, and the Philippines forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers between 1939 and 1945. 

Statues of seated women have been installed across South Korea to honour them.

The YouTube videos posted by Mr Somali, whose real name is Ismael Ramsey Khalid, sparked outrage.

Seoul authorities barred Somali, who has over 5,000 YouTube followers, from leaving South Korea after deeming his content provocative.

“The defendant repeatedly committed crimes against unspecified members of the public to generate profit via YouTube and distributed the content in disregard of Korean law,” the court said.

According to The Korea Herald, judges handed the livestreamer a lesser sentence over “absence of severe harm to victims” even though prosecutors sought a three-year jail term.

Mr Somali, 25, was also barred from working for organisations involving vulnerable groups, including minors and people with disabilities, upon the completion of his prison sentence.

Before the hearing, he told reporters he wished to apologize to South Koreans.

Before his trial in November 2024, the livestreamer apologised, claiming he “didn’t understand the significance of the statue.” Many Koreans questioned the sincerity of his apology.

Reports said Mr Somali was beaten on the street for stirring a series of controversies in South Korea. He was also alleged to have vandalised a convenience store.

Mr Somali faced accusations of harassment during travels to Japan and Israel and was also banned from some streaming platforms.

He was detained during a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, following alleged inappropriate remarks towards a female police officer. He was later released.

The streamer also faced accusations of loudly playing North Korean music and the national anthem in Seoul.

During his trip to Japan in 2023, Mr Somali sparked controversy after taunting locals with remarks about the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.