The Defendant's Side Concludes Without Defense
Jang Wonyoung of the group IVE won a damages lawsuit against a YouTuber.
According to the legal community on the 17th, Judge Park Ji-won of the Seoul Central District Court Civil Division 210 ruled in favor of Jang Wonyoung in a damages claim lawsuit against Park, the operator of the YouTube channel Taldoksooyongso, ordering Park to pay Jang Wonyoung 100 million won and interest.
Previously, Jang Wonyoung and her agency Starship Entertainment filed a criminal complaint against Park for defamation and obstruction of business, claiming that Taldoksooyongso continuously spread false information and damaged her reputation, and also filed a civil lawsuit seeking damages for illegal acts against Park.
This ruling pertains to the lawsuit filed by Jang Wonyoung personally, which was concluded by default judgment on the 21st of last month as Park did not respond.
The criminal case was investigated by the Gangnam Police Station and was recently forwarded to the prosecution.
In the complaint, Jang Wonyoung’s side stated that Park had joined Google’s advertising program AdSense and placed ads on his YouTube channel “Taldoksooyongso.” Google AdSense is an advertising program where the more views and clicks there are, the higher the revenue.
Park was described as the operator of the YouTube channel from around April 2021 to June 23, 2023, running what is known as a “cyber reckka channel,” spreading false information and rumors related to celebrities to gain economic profit.
In addition to revenue generated from video views, Park recruited paid members (premium members) who paid between 19,900 and 600,000 won monthly within the YouTube channel. As of December 17, 2022, the channel had 77,500 subscribers and a total of 151,741,347 views, suggesting significant economic gains.
Jang Wonyoung’s side argued, “The videos uploaded and spread by the defendant on the YouTube channel were created to increase views for profit by filming the plaintiff, a member of one of the most popular female idol groups, IVE, and the content about the plaintiff was entirely composed of false information or insults at the level of defamation.” They added, “This is clearly an illegal act in civil law and also constitutes criminal defamation and insult.”
They continued, “The plaintiff suffered severe mental distress and significant disruption to her entertainment activities due to these videos filled with false information and rumors, the comments on them, and the process of their amplification and reproduction, which is socially understandable. In fact, such ‘cyber reckka’ even led to suicide incidents and has become a serious social issue.”
Jang Wonyoung’s side claimed that Park defamed her by posting videos on his YouTube channel containing false dating rumors, such as “A certain celebrity abandoned his girlfriend A and is now seeing Jang Wonyoung,” or “Jang Wonyoung was not invited to a fashion show, so her boyfriend arranged for her to attend,” or “She visited the fashion show without an invitation, wearing the world’s first secondhand luxury goods as an ambassador.”
The 100 million won claim for damages was calculated by multiplying the minimum amount awarded in similar cases previously decided by the court by the number of videos Park uploaded.
Jang Wonyoung’s side stated, “For a single instance of false information or personality rights infringement through media reports, compensation ranging from 5 million to 10 million won, and in some cases over 100 million won, has been awarded. Considering this, the defendant’s YouTube channel is highly accessible to the public, and the videos criticizing the plaintiff recorded tens of thousands of views. There was continuous defamation over more than 20 instances for about a year, and the videos were edited and fabricated with false information to insult the plaintiff’s character without any basis, not as criticism of any views or actions presented by the plaintiff in broadcasts. Simply multiplying the minimum compensation recognized in other cases by the number of videos uploaded by the defendant exceeds about 100 million won.”
Jang Wonyoung’s side emphasized the illegality of Park’s actions, which were committed to generate his own profit.
They said, “As malicious comments against celebrities became a problem leading to suicides, portal sites even closed comment sections on celebrity news articles to address the issue. However, the defendant did not just post malicious comments but produced and posted videos that fundamentally spread malicious rumors. The impact of YouTube videos is incomparable to simple comments or traditional media. Especially compared to malicious comments, the defendant sought to generate profit through video editing and production, making the illegality much more severe.”
Starship stated, “Since November 2022, we have been pursuing civil and criminal lawsuits, including overseas litigation, against ‘Taldoksooyongso,’ which has continuously harassed our artists. ‘Taldoksooyongso’ has caused serious defamation through continuous false information dissemination, obstructed our business, and caused severe distress to our artists and fans. We are making every effort to hold them fully accountable through ongoing lawsuits.”
They added, “Starship operates a constant monitoring system to protect the rights of our artists, including their honor, privacy, and personality, and will take all possible legal actions without settlement regarding defamation and additional damages in the future.”
Meanwhile, “Taldoksooyongso” was a so-called “cyber reckka” YouTube channel that produced videos based on malicious rumors about idols. The music industry and others have demanded strict punishment for the channel operator. The channel was deleted by Park himself in June last year.
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