Authorities in Seoul charged him with public nuisance in November 2024 after he uploaded a video showing himself kissing the statue and performing lap dances in front of it during his visit to the country, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
Since then, he has been prohibited from leaving South Korea.
The 25-year-old, whose real name is Ismael Ramsey Khalid, has gained notoriety for producing provocative online content that has led to bans from several streaming platforms.
He has also faced accusations of harassing individuals while traveling in countries such as Japan and Israel.
On Wednesday, a South Korean court found Khalid guilty on multiple counts, including public nuisance and the distribution of sexually explicit deepfake material.
According to local media reports, the court stated that “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.”
Prosecutors had initially requested a three-year prison sentence. However, the court opted for a shorter term, citing the absence of serious harm to victims, as reported by The Korea Herald.
In addition to his prison sentence, Khalid will be banned from working with organizations that support minors and individuals with disabilities following his release.
During World War Two, an estimated 200,000 women around Asia were forced to be wartime sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. Many of them were Korean, while others came from China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
There are several statues across South Korea, usually depicting a young woman seated in a chair, which have been installed by activists to remember these "comfort women". The statues have in the past caused diplomatic tensions, as South Korea has long called for reparations from Japan for these women.
Khalid, who has around 5,000 followers on YouTube, had apologised in November 2024 saying he "didn't understand the significance of the statue". But many users expressed scepticism of his sincerity.
While investigations were ongoing in South Korea, Khalid had challenged locals to fight him. Several videos on social media show him being punched and chased along the streets.
Earlier he had caused a scene on public transportation, vandalised a convenience store, and streamed obscene videos in public.
Earlier in 2024, Khalid was detained at a protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, for making inappropriate remarks towards a female police officer, but later released.
While in Japan in 2023, he taunted locals with, among other things, his comments on the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the final days of World War Two.
He was later fined 200,000 yen ($1,400) after disrupting business in a restaurant by playing loud music.
