According to a report by JoongAng Ilbo on April 20, the Seoul Western District Court ruled in February that 4 out of 11 defendants must each pay 300,000 KRW in compensation. The remaining seven defendants were cleared of liability.
Min Hee Jin had filed the lawsuit last year amid her high-profile management dispute with HYBE, seeking between 3 million to 4 million KRW per person from those who left insulting comments such as “trash” and “thug” on related news articles.
The court acknowledged that while freedom of expression allows individuals to voice opinions, it does not extend to humiliating or degrading remarks. It stated that certain comments were intended to mock or belittle Min Hee Jin, thereby damaging her social reputation and causing emotional distress, which justified compensation.
However, the court did not find all comments unlawful. For example, statements like “She doesn’t seem normal” were deemed not excessively malicious. The court explained that such remarks, though potentially rude or crude, could fall under personal opinions related to the management dispute and therefore did not meet the threshold for illegality.
This is not the first time Min Hee Jin has pursued legal action against online commenters. In November last year, she also partially won a similar case, where five individuals were ordered to pay 100,000 KRW each, and one was ordered to pay 200,000 KRW.
Meanwhile, Min Hee Jin is scheduled to attend a hearing on May 15 regarding another damages lawsuit involving Belift Lab and Source Music, both of which filed claims against her in mid-2024 totaling billions of KRW.
Sources: Daum
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