Voice actor and broadcaster Seo Yuri angrily responded to remarks by her ex-husband, producer Choi Byung-gil, regarding the divorce draft agreement.
On the 19th, Seo Yuri posted on her social account that "Do not try to muddy the press. It's only a draft of the agreement, not the final settlement, right? The final settlement does not include these items. I will organize my position and post it soon."
Earlier the day before, producer Choi Byung-gil 공개했다 the divorce draft agreement written in March 2024 through his personal account. The draft was written by Seo Yuri's legal team and listed items related to property division and post-divorce entertainment activities.
In the draft, Seo Yuri's side demanded, "Mr. Choi Byung-gil will pay a total of 263 million won by Dec. 31, 2024. If payment is delayed, interest of 12% per year will be added from Jan. 1, 2025," and "Mr. Choi Byung-gil will not obstruct or impose any direct or indirect disadvantages on (Seo Yuri's) entertainment activities after the divorce, and will not treat her unfairly," among other demands.
It also demanded, "Mr. Choi Byung-gil must ensure that the promise to cast (Seo Yuri) in a leading or supporting role or higher in dramas that had been previously agreed is kept. If that promise is not kept, she will be cast in a leading/supporting role in at least one work that meets one of the two conditions: 'a feature film directed by Mr. Choi Byung-gil with confirmed scheduling of 12 episodes or more' or 'a feature film produced by Mr. Choi Byung-gil with confirmed scheduling of 12 episodes or more,'" and "Mr. Choi Byung-gil will accompany (Seo Yuri) to the Cannes International Series Festival in Cannes, France, during the period from April 5 to April 10, 2024, regardless of the divorce status," among other requirements.
Choi Byung-gil also claimed, "They publicly released a settlement that should not have been disclosed first and have continued to defame me, so I only gave the minimal response," and insisted, "The 'previously agreed promise' is their assertion. I was not in a position to promise and never promised. They proposed this agreement to me, but casting decisions are not made by the director alone, so I could not keep it, and the Cannes festival request was absurd, so I refused. In the end, I had no choice but to finish the agreement on the condition of adding an extra 60 million won," he claimed.
This was in response to Seo Yuri's disclosure of the divorce agreement last month, when she asked, "When can I receive it?" and said, "I tried to contact him personally to resolve the debt issue, but he had blocked my contact information from the start, so I had no choice but to disclose the divorce agreement."
According to the agreement, Choi Byung-gil must pay Seo Yuri a total of 323 million won as property division by Dec. 31, 2024. If payment is delayed, interest of 12% per year will be added from Jan. 1, 2025. In addition, the agreement included a clause allowing Seo Yuri to claim payment of the amount through a separate lawsuit if Choi Byung-gil breaches payment. However, having not received the property division even one year past the payment deadline, she appears to have taken to posting the divorce agreement herself to demand payment.
In response, Choi Byung-gil mentioned what he called unfair demands presented by Seo Yuri's side in the divorce draft and voiced his grievance. Seo Yuri rebutted that the document was only a draft and unrelated to the final divorce settlement. Seo Yuri angrily wrote, "Why is the tongue of a defaulter so long? This is getting interesting to see how far it goes. Don't muddy the waters. That's a draft of the agreement. It's not the final version. Bring the signed copy."
He also posted a screenshot of his house's registry showing a mortgage of over 70 million won set in 2020 and pointed out, "My apartment's collateral loans (from secondary and tertiary financial institutions) started in 2020, but (we married in 2019) I earned hundreds of millions in 2020, so why would I suddenly need to take out a mortgage on the apartment? The registry is tattered. I did not start the business in 2020. What? All of it is debt from the business? Wow, this is really tiresome. Can you cover the sky with your palm?"
She then attacked, "But you're really talented. You didn't repay even 10 won, yet you do publicity saying you added an extra 6,000. Maybe you should switch careers from directing to marketing. A true master at muddying the waters, fully 인정."
Meanwhile, Seo Yuri and producer Choi Byung-gil married in 2019 but divorced in June 2024. The two had financial disputes during the divorce process, and after the divorce Seo Yuri claimed that of the 600 million won Choi Byung-gil borrowed from her, only 300 million won was repaid and she demanded the remaining amount. She also said she took on debt of about 2 billion won during the divorce process and repaid about 1.3 billion won. In response, Choi Byung-gil denied the claim, saying, "It was not for my personal use but went into the 'Rona Universe' business, of which Seo Yuri and I each have 50:50 equity," and added, "I am trying to take responsibility for and fulfill the debt I agreed to repay to Seo Yuri."
[Photo] Seo Yuri SNS
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