Kim Soo-hyun Resumes Defense in 3.9 Billion Won Damages Lawsuit… Ends in Just 5 Minutes, “Key Issues Need to Be Clarified”
The 3.9 billion won damages lawsuit sparked by actor Kim Soo-hyun’s private life controversy has resumed.
On the morning of the 10th, the 14th Civil Division of the Suwon District Court held the third hearing for the 3.96 billion won damages claim lawsuit filed by the health functional food company Frombio against Kim Soo-hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist. This comes approximately eight months after the second hearing held on October 22 of last year.
Frombio filed the lawsuit claiming that its brand image was damaged following allegations of a minor relationship between Kim Soo-hyun and the late Kim Sae-ron . Conversely, Kim Soo-hyun’s side has maintained that the allegations are groundless.
In particular, this trial is the first to proceed since Kim Se- ui, the CEO of the YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute who recently raised the allegations, was indicted under arrest, drawing significant attention to whether the case will enter a new phase.
On this day, the court stated, “It is necessary to reconfirm specifically which parts constitute the violation of maintaining dignity.” In response, FromBio was asked to submit a table summarizing the evidence supporting their claims regarding violations of the duty to maintain dignity, and to provide a detailed explanation of the grounds for each reason constituting a breach of the duty to maintain dignity.
The court plans to clarify the issues based on the submitted table, receive additional responses from the defendant, and then proceed to determine the scope of the dispute in earnest.
Meanwhile, on the 4th, the Seoul Gangnam Police Department referred CEO Kim Se-ui to the prosecution under arrest on charges including the distribution of filmed material, defamation, and intimidation under the Act on Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes. CEO Kim is accused of spreading false information through YouTube broadcasts from March to May of last year, claiming that Kim Soo-hyun was dating Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor and that Kim Sae-ron died due to pressure to repay debts.
Following CEO Kim’s arrest and referral, Gold Medalist issued a statement saying, “We trust in the legal procedures and wait, and we deeply thank those who have spoken out on behalf of Kim Soo-hyun.” It is
reported that Kim Soo-hyun plans to increase the amount claimed in the damages lawsuit filed against CEO Kim Se-ui from the original 12 billion won to 30 billion won.