Healing Paper CEO Hong Seung-il, who has operated the beauty and medical information platform Gangnam Unni, which shares plastic surgery reviews, was also sentenced to prison for violating the Medical Service Act at an appeals trial.

On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Appeals Division 9 sentenced Hong to eight months in prison and two years of probation, the same as the first trial. Citing the reasons for the sentence, the court pointed out that Hong profited from the referral of many patients over a considerable period through the highly contagious internet.

“Profiting from the introduction and referral of a large number of patients to various hospitals over a considerable period through the internet, which has a strong propagation power, is an act with a high risk of negative effects," the court said. “The trial court's sentence cannot be considered severe even because the defendant admitted to the crime and has no previous history of punishment.”

Hong went on trial for allegedly introducing and arranging for 9,215 patients to 71 hospitals by selling coupons for procedures there to subscribers of the Gangnam Unni (Gangnam Sister in Korean) app from September 2015 to November 2018 and collecting 176 million won ($135,300) in fees.

Article 17 of the Medical Service Act prohibits anyone from introducing, referring, or inducing patients to medical institutions or medical practitioners for profit, including exempting or discounting deductibles and providing money.

Healing Paper, the operator of Gangnam Unni, said it scrapped the revenue model in November 2018 after recognizing the controversy, saying that it was caused by failing to closely verify the legality of the revenue model at the beginning of the service.

The company noted that the Gangnam Unni medical advertising platform currently operates with an advertising revenue model recognized as legal. It added that when creating a new type of function or business, it verifies the legality through the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s authoritative interpretation before proceeding.