Court "The case of complete recovery posted on YouTube by 21 subscribers is also illegal medical advertisement."

An oriental doctor who posted a case of complete recovery on a YouTube channel with only dozens of subscribers has been convicted of illegal medical advertising.

The Seoul Central District Court fined A, an oriental doctor accused of violating the medical law, 1 million won in the first trial.

A, the head of an oriental medicine clinic in Seoul, was charged with misleading medical advertisements on daily newspapers and YouTube channels from 2021 to last year, saying that he had cured incurable brain diseases.

Mr. A claimed that appearing on YouTube is not a medical advertisement because it only conveys knowledge about treatment, and that it is not an "internet medium requiring prior deliberation" as prescribed by the Enforcement Decree of the Medical Act as it has only 21 channel subscribers.

However, the court refused to accept A's claim, saying that medical advertisements prohibited by the medical law do not ask the number of subscribers by advertising itself, and that non-subscribers can also be viewed through searches.