YouTubeStreamer Johnny Somali has pleaded guilty to a new charge in his ongoing legal battle in South Korea, and has had a future trial date set by the courts.
In late 2024, Johnny Somali, whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael, traveled to South Korea and continued where he left off in Japan and Israel by causing chaos.
The streamer immediately landed himself in hot water after disrupting a 7/11 store, playing music loudly on a bus and disrupting their journey, as well as playing North Korean propaganda out loud too.
He has been stuck in South Korea for a number of months due to the ongoing legal process and he could face up to 12 years in prison due to eight different charges against him.
Johnny Somali changes plea on South Korean charge
While Somali has maintained his not guilty plea on two of the charges against him, both surrounding making deepfakes of other streamers, he has now pleaded guilty to others.
The streamer had initially pleaded not guilty to two other charges relating to obstruction of business, but overturned that on August 13.
“He pled guilty to the new obstruction charge and changed his not guilty plea on the 3rd obstruction charge due to a witness showing up. Next trial is October 29, 2025,” Legal Mindset noted on X (formerly Twitter).
The lawyer, who has been following Somali’s legal troubles since they started, added that the case could run into 2026 due to the streamer fighting the deepfake charges.
He also expects him to be “convicted” on those charges, which could see him given a maximum sentence of 12 years in a Korean prison.
“The deepfakes, if he is convicted on those, it is very likely he gets time, absolutely,” Legal Mindset said on his YouTube stream of the court hearing. “This trial may go into 2026. This is going long, boys and girls.”
