Min Hee-jin, former CEO of ADOR, won a partial victory in a damages lawsuit against eight online commenters.
According to legal sources on the 19th, Judge Ahn Hyun-jin of the Seoul Central District Court accepted some of the claims made by the former CEO in her damages lawsuit against the commenters. As a result, the commenters must compensate the former CEO between 50,000 and 100,000 won each.
In particular, the highest awarded damages of 100,000 won were for a comment that contained the expletive 'just three letters, m**f**.' In contrast, comments such as 'I want to hit you with a fist,' 's**t like x,' and 'psycho x' were valued at 50,000 won. However, expressions like 'sly x' were deemed relatively mild opinions, and thus no liability for damages was recognized.
The court acknowledged a lower amount compared to the individual damages of 3 million won that the former CEO sought. This is interpreted as a result of the strict criteria used in assessing damages for mental suffering.
Both sides confirmed the ruling without appealing, making it final. Consequently, it seems likely that similar rulings may arise in the additional lawsuit that the former CEO is currently pursuing.
This lawsuit was triggered after HYBE claimed in April of last year that 'the former CEO is trying to independent ADOR and seize management rights.' In response, the former CEO held two press conferences to refute these claims, which led to a surge in malicious comments online. As a result, the former CEO decided to take legal action against the commenters and filed for damages against some of them.