A former agency employee who accused H.O.T. legend Jang Woo Hyuk of verbal abuse and physical assault has been acquitted again, with an appellate court upholding the not-guilty verdict on defamation charges.
Jang Woo Hyuk (Credits: Koreaboo)
The Court’s Ruling
On October 15, the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Appeals Division 2-1 dismissed the prosecution’s appeal and upheld the first trial’s not-guilty verdict in the case against Kim, a former agency employee indicted for defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.
The court’s reasoning was twofold. On the question of defamation by false statements, it ruled that it is difficult to clearly prove Kim’s assault claims were false. On the question of defamation by factual statements, the court found that — given Jang Woo Hyuk’s social status and influence — the disclosure clearly pertained to the public interest, and there was no intent to slander. Additional evidence submitted by the prosecution during the appeal was ruled insufficient to overturn the verdict.
What Kim Alleged
Back in June 2022, Kim posted allegations online claiming Jang Woo Hyuk habitually verbally abused him and assaulted him twice. Kim claimed that in 2014, during a business trip to China, Jang — wearing leather gloves — hit the back of his head in a taxi. He further alleged that in 2020, while getting a microphone fitted in a broadcast waiting room, Jang struck his hand and shouted insults at him.
Jang Woo Hyuk denied all the allegations as groundless and sued Kim for defamation. Notably, regarding the 2020 waiting room incident, Jang countered that he was actually the one assaulted by Kim — a claim the court did not accept.
The ruling closes another chapter in a case that has raised uncomfortable questions about power dynamics behind the scenes in the K-pop industry, and about how far whistleblowers can go in going public with their claims.
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Source: Koreaboo — read the full story there.