According to court documents obtained by Dispatch, IU filed an application on July 15 with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, a legal provision that allows parties involved in foreign litigation to obtain evidence located in the United States.

The request aims to obtain information from Meta, the parent company of Threads, for use in an ongoing civil defamation lawsuit in South Korea. The filing specifically targets a Threads account identified as “@7h*”**, referred to in court documents as Person A. IU’s legal team alleges that the account published 52 false and defamatory posts between March and October 2025, causing significant damage to the singer’s reputation.

Because the account holder’s identity remains unknown, IU’s lawyers argue that it is difficult to continue legal proceedings in South Korea. They have therefore asked the U.S. court to order Meta to disclose identifying information associated with the account, including:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • IP login records

According to the court filing, the posts fall into six major categories of alleged false claims:

  • Plagiarism allegations
  • False claims related to China
  • False statements about IU’s overseas popularity and achievements
  • Allegations of exploiting deceased celebrities for publicity
  • Claims of media manipulation and public opinion control
  • Posts linking IU’s songs to national tragedies

IU’s legal representatives argue that these posts repeatedly spread misinformation without factual basis. One category involves repeated allegations that IU plagiarized another artist’s music. Her legal team noted that similar claims had already been ruled defamatory in a previous South Korean court case, which resulted in a 30 million won (approximately USD 22,000) damages award in 2024.

The filing also accuses the account of repeatedly spreading false claims regarding IU’s connections to China. Examples cited include allegations that:

  • IU is Chinese or acts on behalf of Chinese interests.
  • Organizations receiving her donations are Chinese companies.
  • A cosmetics brand associated with her is Chinese.
  • She is an ethnic Chinese person fluent in Cantonese.

IU’s representatives state that these claims are entirely false. The filing further alleges that the account repeatedly claimed IU has virtually no international popularity and that her drama When Life Gives You Tangerines failed overseas. IU’s legal team disputes these assertions, citing international streaming data and global performance metrics as evidence of her overseas success.

According to the filing, the account also repeatedly shared videos referencing the late Sulli, Jonghyun, and Goo Hara. The videos allegedly accused an unnamed female singer—identified by IU’s legal team as referring to IU—of using the deaths of deceased celebrities for publicity. The filing describes these allegations as false and defamatory.

IU’s legal representatives also cited posts accusing the singer of controlling media coverage and manipulating public opinion. One example included in the filing allegedly compared IU’s influence over the media to that of the Chinese Communist Party and claimed that even politicians could not exercise such control.

The filing additionally alleges that the account connected IU’s songs to major national tragedies without evidence. Among the examples cited were claims that:

  • “Strawberry Moon” symbolized the Itaewon crowd crush.
  • “Ah Puh” mocked the Sewol ferry disaster.

IU’s legal team argues these allegations were fabricated and spread without factual verification.

IU has consistently pursued legal action against individuals accused of posting malicious comments online. In February, her agency announced that criminal complaints and civil lawsuits had been filed against a total of 96 individuals. In May, one defendant reportedly received a sentence of four months in prison, suspended for one year, following an appeal in a related case.

The latest filing in the United States represents another effort by IU’s legal team to identify anonymous online users and pursue accountability through the courts.

Sources: 네이트 뉴스

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