A court ordered a reporter to pay 200 million won to former THE BOYZ member Ju Haknyeon, ruling that prostitution allegations were false.

A court has recognized liability for 200 million won (about 23.67 million yen) in damages against the reporter who reported allegations of prostitution involving former THE BOYZ member Ju Haknyeon. The court found that both the prostitution allegation and the report claiming that he admitted to it were not true. According to the legal community on the 28th, the 25th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court on the 23rd this month handed down a ruling partially in favor of the plaintiff in a damages lawsuit filed by Ju Haknyeon against reporter Mr. Choi. Of the 1 billion won (about 117.83 million yen) originally claimed, 200 million won was recognized as慰謝料 (compensation for emotional distress). Previously, Mr. Choi had been suspected of defamation for reporting content to the effect that Ju Haknyeon had met in secret with former sexy actress (AV actress) Kirara Asuka at a bar in Roppongi. After that, his then agency One Hundred announced Ju Haknyeon’s withdrawal from the group and the termination of his exclusive contract. Ju Haknyeon at the time admitted that he had attended a drinking gathering with an acquaintance and that he had been present there, but he argued that there had been absolutely no prostitution or illegal acts. He also stated that he had never agreed to the announcement of his withdrawal from the team or the termination of his contract with the agency. The court determined that there was a lack of objective evidence supporting the claims contained in the report. In particular, regarding Mr. Choi’s claim that he had confirmed the article’s contents with One Hundred CEO Cha Ga-won, the court pointed out that it was difficult to recognize that sufficient fact-checking had been carried out. Based on the testimony of a witness who was present at the drinking gathering at the time and recordings from agency staff, the court judged that Ju Haknyeon and the woman in question had not met through an exchange of money. The fact that there was no record of exchanging Japanese yen at the time of Ju Haknyeon’s stay in Japan was also cited as grounds. In this way, the credibility of the report linking a mere private meeting to criminal suspicions was not recognized. The court determined that Mr. Choi’s efforts to verify the facts were insufficient and calculated the amount of compensation by taking into account the mental damage Ju Haknyeon suffered due to the false report. Prior to this, Ju Haknyeon had won at first instance in a damages lawsuit on the scale of about 8 billion won (about 800 million yen) filed against One Hundred. At that time, the court determined that a private meeting could not be regarded as a serious act damaging dignity. As for the prostitution allegation, he received a non-referral disposition. This civil ruling has not yet become final. Mr. Choi was separately indicted without detention in May this year on suspicion of defamation through reporting false facts, and he is also facing a separate criminal trial. With civil liability now recognized, attention is also focused on what judgment will be reached in the criminal trial. ・Former THE BOYZ member Ju Haknyeon wins 800 million yen lawsuit against One Hundred... agency plans to request members as witnesses in appeal trial ・Former THE BOYZ member Ju Haknyeon reporter indicted without detention on suspicion of defamation for first reporting prostitution allegations