Director Choi Byeong-gil, who divorced voice actress and broadcaster Seo Yu-ri, has further revealed his stance on the financial conflict.
Choi Byeong-gil noted on the afternoon of the 3rd through his social media, 'Shall we talk specifically about money? I sold my house in Yeouido for a pittance, and the remaining money was only 5,000 (without being able to pay capital gains tax), but that person was very adamant, saying that if they didn't hand that over, I couldn't move out of the house, and they took the 5,000, which wasn't even part of the debt.'
Choi Byeong-gil continued, 'As a result, I had to incur real estate expenses on credit, I still haven't been able to pay capital gains tax, and at the time, I had no moving deposit, so I had to live in a storage room that was being used as an office in Samsong.' He added, 'But they went on various broadcasts, playing the victim and portraying me as a scammer.'
Choi Byeong-gil claimed, 'However, they ultimately demanded more money during the settlement negotiation process than I was originally supposed to pay. I will not disclose the reason, but in the end, I had to pay an additional 60 million won to bring my cats over. So, they are now demanding 110 million won more than what I was originally supposed to pay.'
At the same time, Choi Byeong-gil said that the money Seo Yu-ri spent during their marriage was for 'interior decorating expenses' and 'expenses for her mother visiting the house twice a week to manage her living condition.'
Choi Byeong-gil stated, 'So why have I been silent until now? Ultimately, it's because I have to be chosen by the market as a freelance director, whether I like it or not.' He explained, 'In the already difficult drama market, there are no producers who want to use a director with scandal. Therefore, I have been extremely reluctant for my private life to be disclosed by the media in the works I've been involved in during that time. Also, there were instances where I lost roles in projects that were being discussed due to my already tarnished image.'
He added, 'In such a situation, I was waiting quietly for an opportunity rather than making more noise. However, after seeing the response to an unremarkable post yesterday, I felt I could no longer hold back. In fact, I am in a very sensitive period as important projects are in the casting stage right now. Given that, I was worried that I would lose my last chance due to such criticism, which is why I decided to speak out.'
Choi Byeong-gil and Seo Yu-ri legally became a couple by registering their marriage in 2019, but announced their divorce after five years. The two have been embroiled in a muddy fight over debt during this process.
Below is the full text of Director Choi Byeong-gil's additional statement.
'Shall we talk specifically about money?
I sold my house in Yeouido for a pittance, and the remaining money was only 5,000 (not being able to pay capital gains tax), but that person was very adamant, saying that if they didn't hand that over, I couldn't move out of the house, and they took the 5,000, which wasn't part of the debt.
As a result, I had to incur real estate expenses on credit,
I still haven't been able to pay the capital gains tax, and at the time, I had no moving deposit, so I had to live in a storage room, which was being used as an office in Samsong.
But they went on various broadcasts, playing the victim and portraying me as a scammer.
But in doing that, they ultimately demanded more money during the settlement negotiation process than I was originally supposed to pay. I won't disclose the reason, but in the end, I had to pay an additional 60 million won to bring my cats over.
So, they are demanding 110 million won more than what I was originally supposed to pay.
The money that person spent after our marriage is:
1. Interior decorating expenses - purely the costs for building decoration, since all the furniture was taken by them. Moreover, I owned high-priced electronics and coffee machines, as well as interior decoration items.
2. Additionally, their mother visited the house twice a week for living management, which incurred expenses.
That's probably almost all of it. I covered all the costs for living expenses, home interest, and management fees, and while I mostly ordered food, I had to bear 80% of that since I ate so much.
Also, I intermittently gave mid to high-priced gifts, but I won't bother to mention those.
They spent substantial amounts of money on their own equipment. Oh, and come to think of it, the equipment purchased with corporate funds is probably what they're using now.
Even after all this, am I still a scammer and did I exploit that person?
So why have I been silent until now?
Ultimately, it's because I have to be chosen by the market as a freelance director, whether I like it or not. In the already difficult drama market, there are no producers who want to use a director with scandal. Therefore, I have been extremely reluctant to have my private life exposed by the media in the works I was involved in during that time. Moreover, there were instances of falling out from projects previously discussed due to my already tarnished image.
In such a situation, I waited quietly for an opportunity rather than making more noise.
However, after seeing the response to a trivial post yesterday, I felt I could no longer hold back. In fact, I'm in a very sensitive period with important projects currently in the casting stage. Given that, I worried I might lose my last chance due to such interference, which is why I decided to speak up now.'
[Photo] OSEN DB.
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