Voice actor and broadcaster Seo Yuri and producer Choi Byung-gil, who divorced, are engaged in a dispute over the truth after Choi released part of a divorce agreement and Seo immediately rebutted.
Producer Choi Byung-gil posted on his social media on the 18th a document that appears to be a divorce agreement drafted in March 2024. This is seen as a response to Seo earlier releasing the divorce settlement and raising the issue of unpaid property division payments.
Choi released the document and wrote, "They revealed an agreement that should not have been disclosed and have continued to slander me, so I only took minimal action in response," and added, "Besides, 'the promise previously made' is their claim. I was not in a position to promise, so I never made such a promise."
The agreement he released included the amount of the property division payment along with various conditions related to Seo Yuri's entertainment activities. According to the document, Seo's side proposed that producer Choi pay a total of 263 million won by Dec. 31, 2024, and if payment is delayed, add interest at an annual rate of 12% from Jan. 1, 2025.
It also included a clause that after the divorce Choi would not interfere with Seo Yuri's activities and would not cause direct or indirect disadvantages or unfair treatment related to her entertainment activities.
A particularly notable part was a clause guaranteeing appearances. The released agreement stated that Choi would, in accordance with promises previously made, ensure Seo appears in dramas in lead or supporting roles after the divorce, and if that promise was not kept, Choi would cast Seo in at least one long-form production in which he was the director and the scheduling was confirmed, or one long-form production he produced with confirmed scheduling, in a lead or supporting role. It also included that Seo would accompany him to the Cannes International Series Festival in Cannes, France in April 2024.
Choi said, "Casting is not something a director can decide alone, so it cannot be guaranteed, and sending someone to the Cannes festival is absurd, so I refused," and claimed, "In the end, we had no choice but to finish negotiations on the condition of adding 60 million won."
Choi's disclosure came after Seo posted the divorce settlement on her social media and raised the issue of unpaid property division payments. Seo posted the settlement on the 19th of last month and wrote, "When will I receive it?" She said at the time, "I tried to contact him personally to resolve the debt issue, but he blocked my contact information from the start, so I had no choice but to make the divorce settlement public."
According to the settlement Seo released at the time, Choi was to pay a total of 323 million won as property division by Dec. 31, 2024, and if payment was delayed, add interest at an annual rate of 12% from Jan. 1, 2025. With that payment deadline already passed, Seo has claimed she has not yet received the promised amount.
After Choi released the agreement document, Seo immediately rebutted on her social media on the 19th. She said, "Don't try to muddy the waters with the media. This is just a draft agreement, not the final settlement, right? Those items are not included in the final settlement. I will organize my position and post it soon."
She later expressed her stance again in stronger terms. Seo wrote, "Why is the tongue of a defaulter so long? How far will this go, so interesting. Don't muddy the waters. That's a draft agreement. It's not the final version. Bring the stamped document," and drew a line, saying the document Choi released was only a draft at the negotiation stage and not a finalized agreement.
Seo also captured and released part of the registration copy of her home, revealing dissatisfaction about financial issues. She wrote, "My previously fine apartment suddenly had mortgage loans (from secondary and tertiary financial institutions) starting in 2020, but I had income in the hundreds of millions in 2020, so why would I suddenly take out a mortgage on the apartment? The registration copy is all tattered."
She also refuted Choi's earlier claim, asking, "What? All of it is business-related debt? Wow, this is really tiresome. Can you cover the sky with your palm?" She criticized, "They boast about adding 60 million won while not repaying even 10 won. Maybe he should switch careers from director to marketing. Master of muddying the waters, I totally admit it."
Seo had previously publicly mentioned financial disputes with Choi. She said Choi repaid only 300 million won of the 600 million won he borrowed from her, leaving the remainder unpaid. She also said she assumed debts totaling 2 billion won during the divorce process and had repaid about 1.3 billion won of that amount.
Choi, for his part, said the debt was not due to his personal consumption but related to the "RONA Universe" business in which the two owned 50-50 equity. He had claimed, "I am trying to take responsibility and fulfill the debt I promised to repay to Ms. Seo Yuri."
This conflict is not just an emotional quarrel but a direct clash between the two sides over the nature of the documents exchanged during divorce negotiations, the final agreed terms, whether the property division payments were made, and the scope of responsibility for past business debts.
Seo Yuri and producer Choi Byung-gil married in 2019 but divorced in June 2024.
[Photo] OSEN DB
[OSEN]