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.