“Statement written by a friend who witnessed Ahn Jae Hyun’s affair”… The final result for YouTuber Lee Jin Ho, who was sued by Goo Hye Sun
YouTuber Lee Jin Ho is a former entertainment reporter who is delivering various news from the entertainment industry.
In May last year, he mentioned the statement of top actress A, which was spread on various online communities, during the divorce suit between Goo Hye Sun and Ahn Jae Hyun through his YouTube channel.
The statement contained specific and detailed testimony that Ahn Jae Hyun had close physical contact with a woman while eating after finishing the DVD work schedule for JTBC’s “The Beauty Inside”.
A wrote, “Ahn Jae Hyun knew that I was a friend of Goo Hye Sun, but he did not hide his private contact with OOO.”
However, Lee Jin Ho claimed that the statement containing negative contents about Ahn Jae Hyun was unreliable. He added that it could not be concluded that Goo Hye Sun spread it, but the process and intention of the leak were unclear.
He also explained that the statement did not contain the resident registration number of the person making the statement, so it did not follow the legal document form.
However, Goo Hye Sun sued Lee Jin Ho for spreading false information and defamation.
According to Goo Hye Sun, the statement spread online was written by A, her long-time colleague in the entertainment industry, saying she saw Ahn Jae Hyun having intense skinship with another actress.
At that time, Goo Hye Sun explained, “A wrote the statement with my consent and sent it to the lawyer.”
She said, “The statement was released by an unknown source and caused controversies. I feel so sorry for my friend.”
After a long legal battle, the final result finally came out.
On Nov 21st, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office concluded that Lee Jin Ho was not guilty.
When the police decided to not transfer this issue to the prosecution in June, Goo Hye Sun did not agree with the police investigation result, so she filed an objection with the prosecution in July. However, the final result did not change.
The prosecution said, “Even after examining the entire content of the broadcast, there is not enough evidence to prove defamation intention.”
According to Supreme Court precedents, in order for defamation to be established, specific facts that may infringe on the social value or evaluation of a specific person must be stated, but Lee Jin Ho did not state the facts.
The prosecution added, “It is true that the video was uploaded without confirming specific facts with the plaintiff, but the YouTuber did confirm whether the statement was written to actress A and there is no evidence to prove the suspect’s remarks are false.”
In order for the crime of spreading false information to be established, the speaker must have already recognized that it was false, but Lee Jin Ho believed what he said was true and even confirmed it, so the crime is not established.
Meanwhile, Goo Hye Sun married actor Ahn Jae Hyun in 2016.
Afterwards, Goo Hye Sun and Ahn Jae Hyun appeared on tvN’s “Newlyweds Diary” and received a lot of love from fans.
However, they were embroiled in breakup rumors after 3 years of marriage, and divorced in July 2020.
Ahn Jae Hyun appeared on TV after a long time through tvN’s entertainment program “The Sports Master Ahn Jae Hyun” last year.
In May this year, Goo Hye Sun released “Goo Hye Sun’s Piano New Age Best Album 20th” to mark her 20th debut anniversary.
Source: Insight
