Piack Group and Onehundred Chair Cha Gawon has taken legal action over reports alleging an affair with singer MC Mong.
Cha's attorney, Yon Je-heon of Lee & Ko, said legal measures were taken regarding an article published on the 24th and a video distributed via a YouTube channel by a media outlet.
Yon said, "Without asking Chair Cha, who is a direct stakeholder and party to the article and video, to verify any facts or giving a right of rebuttal, the outlet posted Cha's full name in the headlines of the article and video and distributed them via an internet website and YouTube channel, presenting Cha as the married celebrity MC Mong's adulterous partner to an unspecified number of people."
Yon added, "But what the outlet reported is not true at all, and the content is highly sensational and provocative, which has not only gravely and irreparably damaged Chair Cha's rights to personality, honor and social reputation, but also brutally trampled even the peace of Cha's private life."
Yon continued, "As of the 29th, we have already initiated civil and criminal legal action over violations of the applicable law against the outlet and all personnel involved in writing, posting and distributing the article and the video."
Yon also said, "All facts will be made crystal clear through future legal proceedings," adding, "We ask that you refrain from unnecessary reports that could cause irreparable harm to Chair Cha, Cha's family, and the various corporations Cha manages."
On the 24th, a media outlet reported that Chair Cha, who is married, and MC Mong were in a romantic relationship, and that there were circumstances in which 12 billion won was directly handed to MC Mong. MC Mong denied it, saying, "I swear I have never had such an improper relationship."
He emphasized, "I am not in a 12 billion won lawsuit with (Chair Cha) but, of course, in a relationship to perform a debt." He added, "A group around a person surnamed Cha and a nearby manager reinterpreted texts that aren't even in my KakaoTalk and (fake) texts I created to defend myself, stitched those messages together, and a news outlet turned them into a story."
Onehundred also issued a statement, saying, "Upon verification, both the article's content and the KakaoTalk messages were not true," and explained, "MC Mong sent them under coercion after being threatened by a person surnamed Cha, a relative of Chair Cha Gawon." It added, "At the time, the person surnamed Cha threatened MC Mong to forcibly sell shares in order to seize management control of Big Planet Made, and in the process, MC Mong's fabricated KakaoTalk messages were delivered."