Former CEO of ADOR, Min Hee Jin, has achieved a major victory in her court fight against cyberbullies and malicious commentators online. Court decisions released this week show that she had won 13 of the 19 defamation cases that she had filed, earning her a success rate of about 70%. The verdict has triggered huge online debates with many congratulating her on her perseverance. Read on to know more.
Min Hee Jin Wins Big In Online Defamation Lawsuit
According to the legal community, the court ruled in favour of Min Hee Jin in eight cases. Four individuals were asked to pay a fine of 300,000 KRW (around Rs. 18,000) each, and another four were asked to pay 200,000 KRW (around Rs. 12,000) each as a penalty. However, the court also ordered Min to bear 90% of the total legal expenses, a ruling which surprised netizens.
The lawsuits stemmed from defamatory online remarks posted last year about the former ADOR CEO, while Min Hee Jin was in the midst of a high-profile management controversy with HYBE relating to NewJeans. Some commenters at the time painted Hee Jin negatively by claiming that she attempted to take NewJeans away from HYBE in a coup. The former ADOR CEO and her lawyers filed multiple lawsuits regarding those remarks, alleging emotional distress and damage to her reputation.
Min’s lawyers claimed significant psychological harm during the trial and asked each commenter to pay them 3,000,000 KRW (about Rs. 1.8 lakh) in damages. The court acknowledged that the remarks were defamatory, even if it did not grant the full sum. “It is reasonable to assume that these comments damaged Min’s social image and personal worth,” the judge said in his ruling.
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Comments from K-netizens have been generally in favour of the ruling, though some questioned the inconsistency in the fine amounts. Min Hee Jin’s 70% success rate is being seen as a forceful reaction against cyberbullying in the entertainment industry, indicating that online defamation will not be tolerated.
Source: Koreaboo