Actor Kim Hyung Joong, who is well known for his role as Yoon Ji Hoo in 2009's "Boys Over Flowers," vaguely blame his ex-girlfriend for harming his acting profession. Kim's side claimed that the 29-year-old actor would have been more popular than "Descendants of the Sun" actor Song Joong Ki, if not for the mentioned scandal.
On June 3, Friday, the first court hearing on a 1.6 billion won ($1.37 million) damage claim suit amongst Kim and ex-girlfriend and mother of his son, Ms. Choi, took place at Seoul Central District Court. Two witnesses - KeyEast Entertainment CEO Mr. Yang and alias "L" - were present during the hearing.
KeyEast's CEO Yang testified as a witness on Kim's side, in an effort to clarify the damages brought on by the scandal to the defendant. Alias L, on the other hand, was called to address the legitimacy of Ms. Choi's claims of miscarriage.
"They say Hallyu Song Joong Ki achieved a financial gain in the trillions of won, and if it hadn't been for 'A's' disclosure, there was potential for Kim Hyun Joong to have achieved more than that," Soompi quoted CEO Yang as saying in the midst of the court proceeding, while further emphasizing the property damages suffered by the defendant.
CEO Yang proceeded to recount the time that he saw how Kim shook in fear in view of the negative publicity. On Aug. 22, 2015, the first report about the assault case was released by Dispatch and was shortly followed by around 1,690 published articles. He added that Kim gave 600 million won ($515,466) to Ms. Choi as settlement, 20 days after the news broke out.
Kim's legal representative, attorney Lee Jae Man, further reveal that the incident resulted in contract cancellations. He stressed that the actor languished great economic loss over a guarantee payment of 300 million won ($256,731) for his supposed concert tour in Mexico and Beijing, China, 600 million won ($506,000) for the contract as a duty free mall endorser and the cancellation of his appearance in the 16-episode Chinese drama.
"The plaintiff dated the defendant, who is a celebrity, and she knew the news would fatally damage him as a celebrity," Attorney Lee added.
The chief judge said that the court will call the offended party for questioning on July 8. It will be followed by the questioning of the defendant and if necessary, both the plaintiff and defendant are required.
It can be recalled that Ms. Choi filed a lawsuit against her ex-beau in April 2015 for alleged charges of physical and psychological abuse. Ms. Choi charged the actor for $1.37 million in damages, stating that she had a miscarriage because of Kim's physical viciousness towards her, The Korea Portal reported.
Kim made his entertainment debut as the leader of the South Korean boy band, SS501, on June 8, 2005. He was named one of South Korea's Hallyu stars and was viewed as a style icon in the industry, having won several icon awards. His last project in Korea is the 2014 action-period TV drama called "Inspiring Generation."
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