Roasting Virtual K-Pop Idols Online? It Might Cost You A Lot In South Korea

Last Updated:September 19, 2025, 15:59 IST

A South Korean court fined a social media user for defaming Plave, a virtual K-pop boyband.

Plave debuted in 2023 and has quickly become one of South Korea’s most successful virtual K-pop groups.

A South Korean court ordered a social media user to pay 500,000 won in damages for defaming a K-pop boyband whose members are entirely virtual. The five members of Plave, a group voiced and animated through motion-capture technology by anonymous performers, were the subject of a civil suit filed last year after derogatory remarks appeared online.

The ruling is one of the first legal decisions in South Korea to address the defamation of virtual K-pop idols. According to the Korea Times, the defendant targeted Plave in a series of July 2024 posts, some containing profanity. Among the comments were claims that the performers behind the avatars “could be ugly in real life” and gave off a “typical Korean man vibe.”

The defendant argued that the remarks were directed at fictional avatars, not the real people behind them. The court rejected this, ruling that if an avatar is widely recognised to represent a real person, then insults aimed at the avatar can be deemed attacks on the individual.

Plave’s agency, Vlast, had sought 6.5 million won for each of the five performers, claiming the comments caused emotional distress. Instead, the court awarded a total of 500,000 won- 100,000 won per member- citing the severity of the comments and the circumstances of the case. Vlast has since appealed the amount, arguing that the case sets an important precedent for the treatment of virtual characters in South Korea.

All You Need To Know About Plave

Plave debuted in 2023 and has quickly become one of South Korea’s most successful virtual K-pop groups, amassing more than a million YouTube subscribers with music videos and vlogs. They have also broken into the mainstream music scene. Their track Way 4 Luv was nominated for Best Vocal Performance and Song of the Year at the 2024 MAMA Awards and the group won a major prize at this year’s Seoul Music Awards.

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