Actor-turned-influencer Yu Hye-won has sued Kim Ji-min of "Heart Signal 4."
On the 26th, Yu Hye-won's legal representative, the law firm Daeryeon, issued an official statement announcing legal action against the initial spreaders of the rumors and the distribution channels, including Kim Ji-min of "Heart Signal 4."
The law firm said, "Recently, content about Ms. Yu Hye-won's private life has been spreading through anonymous social media and online communities without the consent of the person involved, and regardless of the factual truth, the circulated content has been treated as if it were true through media reporting and online redistribution, causing ongoing defamation and damage to her image," and added, "Recently, beyond mere interest or opinion, specific private details that could directly affect the person's honor and social standing have been rapidly spreading, so we judged that we can no longer overlook this."
Earlier, in June, a post that Kim Ji-min of "Heart Signal 4" had uploaded using the "visible only to close friends" feature was leaked and spread through online communities. The post contained a rumor that Yu Hye-won had received so-called "sponsorship" while she was in a relationship, which drew attention.
In response, Yu Hye-won's law firm said, "Ms. Yu Hye-won and Ms. Kim Ji-min do not know each other and are not otherwise connected, yet the circumstances in which specific details regarding Ms. Yu Hye-won's highly private sphere were mentioned are being treated with utmost seriousness. Accordingly, the law firm Daeryeon is representing Ms. Yu Hye-won and is thoroughly reviewing the facts related to the creation and distribution of the post, and intends to file a criminal complaint against Ms. Kim Ji-min and pursue damages depending on the results."
The law firm added, "Through investigation, Daeryeon believes it is necessary to confirm when, from whom, and by what route Ms. Kim Ji-min became aware of the content in question, whether there was any basis to consider it true, and whether there were procedures to verify the facts before posting," and said, "How specific private details about an individual were conveyed and then reposted, especially between people who are not well acquainted, is an important part of determining the facts in this case. Therefore, if necessary, we will request that the investigation verify the original creator and transmitters of the information, the transmission process, the posting and subsequent re-dissemination circumstances," foreshadowing a thorough probe into the source of the rumors and a response.
The law firm said, "We do not currently conclude that an unidentified third party, a specific online community, or anonymous channels are the original distributors or information providers in this case, but we have begun strong action based on objective evidence and proper investigative procedures. Also, regarding this case, we are not saying we will uniformly hold all users legally responsible merely for capturing or receiving posts already spread online, but we will review each act and evidence and take necessary legal measures against those who newly write unverified content as if it were true, actively repost or reprocess it in ways that identify the victim, use it to mock or defame, or combine it with additional false facts to spread it."
It added, "We will continue strong follow-up measures through constant monitoring and legal action to do our best to protect honor and rights. Not only the original distributors but also those who provided material that enabled anonymous accounts to commit crimes that infringe on private life will be subject to punishment," and said, "The person who operated the anonymous account is currently in custody, and we have additionally secured evidence against those who allegedly gave that person so-called 'tips,' and we will take measures so that those who enabled these crimes can be punished as accomplices." It emphasized refraining from expanding or reproducing unverified content or further disseminating the victim's private life.
The law firm also released part of the complaint filed against Kim Ji-min of "Heart Signal 4." The complaint included evidentiary screenshots of the rumor-spreading posts by Kim Ji-min and stated, "Around June 2026, Kim Ji-min wrote a post on her SNS account that included false private details about the complainant. The post contained false statements suggesting that the complainant, while dating a certain basketball player, was receiving support (so-called 'sponsorship') from a famous singer-producer. This act, which publicly revealed false facts via an information and communications network to defame a person, falls under the criminal act specified in Article 70, Paragraph 2 of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection," and appealed for strict punishment.
[Photo] SNS
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