Actor Kim Gyu-ri warned that she will take legal action against those who left malicious comments about her online.
On the 10th, Kim Gyu-ri said on her personal social media, "A court has handed down a ruling, which means that based on this ruling, posts that run counter to it can be punished by law," and added, "I understand that, beyond these people, many articles are being flooded with malicious comments. I will keep this short. Delete them on your own."
She continued, "Starting one week from now, I plan to gather the materials and proceed with a large-scale lawsuit. I want to state in advance that I have already taken screenshots of the current materials. There will be no mercy starting one week from now."
Posting actual screenshots, she disclosed comments containing blatant profanity and threats, such as "I'll cut off your XX, wait," "There is no peace for you," "Don't brag about your ignorance," and "XX Gyu-ri."
On the 9th, a day earlier, Kim Gyu-ri also posted a long message on social media, opening up about the pain she has endured for a long time.
She said, "How many years have I suffered all this time? I want to stop struggling now," and added, "In fact, my trauma is so severe that I have a seizure just at the syllable 'black' in 'blacklist.'"
She went on to list experiences she had not talked about, saying she was psychologically anxious at the time: "Among my experiences I had kept quiet about are 'I was told to watch my back because a National Intelligence Service (NIS) office had been set up in the alley by my house,' 'strange people loitered in front of my home for days on end,' 'I was threatened, told, "If you don't stay still, I'll kill you,"' and 'I suffered because my cellphone was wiretapped.'"
Kim Gyu-ri is among those whose names appeared on the National Intelligence Service's "blacklist of the culture and arts community" during the Lee Myung-bak administration.
In November 2017, along with 36 others including comedian Kim Mi-hwa, she filed a damages suit against former President Lee Myung-bak and former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Won Se-hoon.
The Seoul High Court Civil Division 27-2 (Presiding Judge Seo Seung-ryeol) ruled last month, "The state shall pay each plaintiff 5 million won jointly with the former president and the former director."
After the National Intelligence Service (NIS) gave up its appeal, the case was finalized, and the agency delivered an official apology message to the plaintiffs.
After the news broke, Kim Gyu-ri said, "The scars remain and I feel only empty," and added, "In any case, since they gave up the appeal, I welcome the news."
She also added, "I send warm comfort and support to the legal team and senior colleagues who have suffered through the blacklist period + since the lawsuit began in 2017 to now."
Her post responding to the malicious comments is seen as showing her resolve not to tolerate any further, after years of political stigmatization and online abuse.
Kim Gyu-ri said, "There will be no mercy starting one week from now," signaling a class-action process against authors of defamatory and threatening posts.