Sexual Assault Accused Kang Ji-hwan Faces 5.3 Billion Won Compensation Crisis

Drama 'Joseon Survival' Production Company Jegi
Ordered to Pay in Lawsuit Over Appearance Fees and Penalties

Actor Kang Ji-hwan, who was convicted by the Supreme Court for sexually assaulting and molesting two female outsourced staff members
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Sung-pil] Actor Kang Ji-hwan (real name Jo Tae-gyu), who was sentenced to a suspended prison term for sexual crimes, has been ordered to return part of his appearance fee to the drama production company he was working with at the time of the offense and to pay tens of billions of won in penalties.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 16 (Presiding Judge Lim Ki-hwan) ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in an unjust enrichment lawsuit filed by Studio Santa Claus Entertainment against Kang Ji-hwan and Jellyfish Entertainment. The court ordered, "Kang Ji-hwan shall pay Studio Santa Claus Entertainment approximately 5.34 billion won plus delayed interest, and Jellyfish Entertainment shall jointly bear 610 million won of that amount."

Studio Santa Claus Entertainment (formerly Hive Riders Korea), the production company of the drama "Joseon Survival," signed a contract with Kang Ji-hwan in April 2019 through his then-agency Jellyfish Entertainment. The appearance fee was 76.3 million won per episode, totaling 1.526 billion won. The contract included a clause stating that "the party responsible for contract termination or cancellation must pay double the appearance fee already paid to the other party as a penalty." Subsequently, Studio Santa Claus Entertainment signed an export contract worth 4.7 billion won with Japan's NBC Universal Entertainment Japan, conditional on Kang Ji-hwan's appearance in "Joseon Survival."

However, in July 2019, after completing filming for 12 out of 20 episodes of "Joseon Survival," Kang Ji-hwan was arrested and indicted on charges of forced molestation and quasi-rape. The charges involved sexual assault against two female outsourced staff members who were sleeping after a company dinner with agency employees at his home in Opo-eup, Gwangju-si, Gyeonggi Province. Due to the lead actor's arrest and indictment making drama production impossible, Studio Santa Claus Entertainment notified Kang Ji-hwan of contract termination and subsequently filed a lawsuit demanding payment of the full appearance fee, penalties, and damages totaling approximately 6.3896 billion won.

The court ruled that Kang Ji-hwan must pay penalties to Studio Santa Claus Entertainment for breaching the contract. The court stated, "The penalty clause was included in the contract at the time of agreement, and the contract was lawfully terminated due to Kang Ji-hwan's offense," adding, "Kang Ji-hwan is obligated to pay double the appearance fee of 1.526 billion won." Furthermore, the court noted, "Kang Ji-hwan must have reasonably anticipated that if the lead actor were replaced due to sexual crimes committed during filming, the production company would suffer losses from decreased copyright income of the drama," and ordered him to pay approximately 1.68083 billion won, which is about 40% of the reduced amount agreed upon from the sales proceeds received by the production company from NBC Universal Entertainment Japan.

However, the court limited the refund of the appearance fee to the unfilmed portion (8 episodes, 610 million won) and ruled that it should be paid jointly with the then-agency. The court stated, "It cannot be considered that Kang Ji-hwan unjustly enriched himself from the appearance fee for the parts already filmed, nor that the production company suffered damages equivalent to the appearance fee for the filmed parts." Kang Ji-hwan's side argued that the penalty was excessively high compared to the actual amount received and should be significantly reduced, but the court rejected this, stating, "The production company faces the risk of enormous damages incomparable to the appearance fee."

Previously, Kang Ji-hwan was found guilty of forced molestation and quasi-rape and was sentenced by the first-instance court to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a 3-year suspension. Kang Ji-hwan appealed the verdict, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal, and the Supreme Court upheld the original ruling in November last year, confirming the guilty verdict.