Claim Filed Against YouTube Channel Raising Allegations
"Suffered Sales Decline Due to False Information"
President Yoon Suk-yeol and Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon have filed a 500 million won lawsuit for damages against a YouTube channel that raised suspicions regarding the music cafe owner, who was identified as the venue where about 30 lawyers from the law firm Kim & Chang held the so-called 'Cheongdam-dong drinking party.'
According to the legal community on the 5th, the Civil Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Song Seung-woo) is currently hearing a lawsuit filed by Lee Miki (a pseudonym), who runs a cafe in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, against four people including Kang Min-gu, the representative of the YouTube channel The Tamza, demanding the deletion of videos and 550 million won in damages.
Kim Eui-gyeom, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, raised suspicions last October that President Yoon and Minister Han had a late-night drinking party with lawyers from Kim & Chang at a location in Cheongdam-dong.
Subsequently, the YouTube channel The Tamza made the same claim. In the video, Lee’s cafe was mosaic-censored and referred to as "a bar operated by singer Lee M."
Lee, who debuted in 1986 with "Wings of Lee Sang," is the original singer of "Becoming Dust," which became famous after being remade by Kim Kwang-seok, Lee Yoon-soo, Roy Kim, and others.
During the police investigation, cellist A, who claimed to have been at the drinking party, testified that "I lied to my boyfriend," leading to the conclusion that the suspicion was unfounded.
Thereafter, Lee stated that "my reputation was damaged and sales decreased due to the false claim that my cafe was the venue of the Cheongdam-dong drinking party," and requested a correction from the channel.
When this was not accepted, Lee filed for a provisional injunction in January this year to delete the posts and prohibit further postings.
In a statement, Lee claimed, "The place where I shared music with my beloved people has suddenly been transformed into a venue where the president, the Minister of Justice, and dozens of Kim & Chang lawyers held inappropriate meetings."
In March, the Civil Division 50 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Beom-seok) ruled, "The broadcast is judged to be a media report without truth or reasonable and valid grounds to recognize it as true," ordering that if the videos related to the Cheongdam-dong drinking party suspicions are not deleted, 5 million won per violation must be paid to Lee.
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