Will Jang Won-young and Min-ji take legal action to escape the pain of malicious comments?

[Edaily Starin Reporter Kim Hyun-sik] Ive’s Jang Won-young and New Jeans’ Minji are attracting attention as they are both taking legal action against malicious posts online. The response of two members of a popular girl group is attracting attention from K-pop industry officials and fans.

Ive Jang Won-young is focusing his efforts on legal action against Ms. A, a woman in her 30s who runs the YouTube channel ‘Taldeok Camp.’ ‘Taldeok Camp’ is a ‘cyber wrecker’ channel that ‘makes a living by selling views’ by producing a series of videos containing malicious rumors and personal attacks against idol singers. Ive member Jang Won-young, who had increased recognition, was one of the main targets.

The agency, Starship Entertainment (hereinafter referred to as Starship), has been pursuing civil, criminal and overseas lawsuits against Mr. A since November of last year. In relation to this, Starship announced on the 17th, “The criminal complaint against Mr. A was recently transferred from the police to the prosecution.” In addition, they said, “The civil suit filed by our company is scheduled to be heard in January, and the civil suit filed by Jang Won-young was ruled in favor through a false confession because the other party did not respond.”

What K-pop fans are paying attention to is that Starship has received an information provision order from a U.S. court and is taking legal action while obtaining personal information about Mr. A from Google headquarters in the U.S., which operates YouTube. Until now, in the case of ‘Cyber ​​Wrecka’ channels, it was difficult to identify the operator’s personal information and proceed with a lawsuit because they used YouTube, a platform headquartered overseas. Among these, K-pop fans are paying attention to the fact that a way to punish the ‘Cyber ​​Rekka’ channel operator has been opened through Starship.

According to the legal community, the Seoul Central District Court ruled last month that “Mr. A must pay 100 million won to Jang Won-young” in a lawsuit seeking damages filed by Jang Won-young against Mr. A. In response to this, Mr. A reportedly submitted an appeal on the 18th. The ‘Taldeok Camp’ channel is currently not operating. Starship said, “‘Taldeok Camp’ committed serious acts of defamation by continuously spreading false information, not only interfering with our company’s work, but also causing serious pain to artists and fans,” and added, “We are doing our best to hold them accountable in civil and criminal matters through ongoing lawsuits.” “We will do our best,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the 16th, New Jeans’ agency Adore issued a statement saying, “Through continuous monitoring, we are taking regular legal action against acts such as malicious comments, malicious slander, insults, and defamation by spreading false information.”gave out The statement was read as a measure to protect the rights and interests of Minji, who was in trouble due to the so-called ‘kalguksu remark’ issue. This is because on the same day, Minzy posted a long message about her feelings on a fan communication platform.

Previously, Minji mentioned that she had not tried kalguksu in New Jeans’ own YouTube content video in December 2022. When I appeared on a YouTube broadcast in January of the following year, when the topic of kalguksu came up, I said to myself, ‘What is kalguksu?’ Afterwards, some netizens online asked, ‘Does it make sense to say that you don’t know kalguksu at all? She responded by saying, “Isn’t this a lie to create a luxurious image?” and left a malicious comment towards Minji.

Afterwards, similar malicious comments continued to appear for a year. In the end, Minji revealed her true feelings during a live broadcast with her members on the 2nd. The gist of her remark was that she had never tried kalguksu, but that did not mean she did not know kalguksu itself. Then, the controversy grew further as other malicious comments continued online from some netizens who took issue with Minzy’s attitude toward explanation. In her post about this, Minji said, “My tone of voice and attitude caused discomfort to those who saw it. I think I showed a bad attitude during a live performance where we communicated naturally and comfortably. “I am truly sorry to those who were surprised and hurt,” she said.

Minji also said, “I knew what kind of reaction I had when I said I didn’t know what kalguksu was last winter. “I am a very picky eater and have never tried kalguksu, so while thinking about the type and taste of kalguksu, I unconsciously said to myself, ‘What is kalguksu?’” he said. “It seemed like the water was fading, and I thought it would calm down over time,” he explained.

Minji continued, “But as time went by, more things were said against my judgment, even my relationship with the members was mentioned, and I received strange misunderstandings. I think it tormented me knowingly or unknowingly for a year.” “That’s why I felt frustrated.” “I provided an explanation, but I am reflecting a lot on myself for disappointing you with an extremely immature attitude,” he said.

Minji also said, “Through this incident, I thought about it a lot during my vacation and through conversations with people around me, I thought about the responsibility of my every word and learned a lot. I will be more careful and attentive so as not to repeat the same mistake again.” “I would like to once again express my apologies to those who felt uncomfortable and embarrassed while watching the live performance.”

With Minzy providing an explanation and apology, and Adore announcing legal action, attention is being paid to whether Minzy will be able to escape the pain caused by the ‘kalguksu remark issue’ in the future. Adore asked, “Out of respect for a person’s personality, please refrain from further reckless speculation and malicious slander.”

Hyunsik Kim (ssik@edaily.co.kr)