American YouTuber Sentenced to 6 Months in South Korean Prison

YouTuber Johnny Somali will have plenty of time to brush up on his Korean in the prison library … because he’s been sentenced to serve 6 months for his controversial acts.

The Seoul Western District Court found Somali — government name Ramsey Khalid Ismael — guilty on multiple charges, including obstruction of business and distributing fabricated sexually explicit content.

Prosecutors say he harassed staff and visitors at an amusement park, disrupting a convenience store with loud music and flipping over noodles onto a table, and distributing non-consensual deepfake videos. They asked a judge to hand Somali a 3-year sentence.

The AP reports Somali also sparked outrage back in October 2024 after he kissed a statue and danced on it in a sexually explicit manner near the country’s Japanese embassy. The statue is a monument to the thousands of women enslaved for sex by Japan’s army before and during World War II.

The court ruled Somali showed “severe” disrespect for South Korean law … and he was immediately taken into custody after the verdict — because the court determined he was a flight risk.