Lee Doo-hee wins lawsuit against YouTuber Lee Jin-ho

The Seoul High Court has ordered YouTuber Lee Jin-ho to pay 4 million won in alimony and issue a correction after a three-year legal battle. The ruling, which became final on the 6th, follows a video posted in September 2023 containing false claims regarding Lee Doo-hee's embezzlement charges.

The 13-3 Civil Division of the Seoul High Court upheld a first-instance ruling on the 16th of last month, ordering Lee Jin-ho to issue a correction and pay 4 million won in alimony in a damages lawsuit filed by Lee Doo-hee. The ruling became final on the 6th after neither party appealed. The dispute began with a YouTube video posted by Lee Jin-ho on September 7, 2023. In the video, Lee Jin-ho claimed that after Lee Doo-hee's closest associate became the new CEO, the complaint filed by Meta Kongz against Lee Doo-hee for embezzlement was withdrawn and a petition for non-punishment was submitted, leading to Lee's clearance of charges. However, the Seoul Gangnam Police Station stated through a court inquiry that no documents expressing an intent to withdraw the complaint or a petition for non-punishment regarding Lee Doo-hee had been submitted. The court ruled that the main parts of Lee Jin-ho's statements were false, noting a lack of evidence to support his claim that he received tips from former Meta Kongz management before posting the video and that he had not conducted proper fact-checking. Furthermore, the court ruled it difficult to view the video as being solely for the public interest, citing that Lee Jin-ho mentioned the real name of Lee Doo-hee's spouse, Jisook of Rainbow.

Legal battles and Meta Kongz conflict

Like Lion was the largest shareholder at the time of Meta Kongz's establishment, which conducts NFT business, and Lee Doo-hee served as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The two companies experienced conflict over the settlement of sales proceeds and management rights acquisition during the LGO Project, an NFT sales business, in 2022. Subsequently, Meta Kongz sued Lee Doo-hee, claiming he refused to return virtual assets, but the police decided not to transfer the case in February 2023 due to a lack of suspicion, and the prosecution issued a non-indictment disposition in June 2024. Lee Doo-hee filed the damages lawsuit in response to Lee Jin-ho's broadcast claiming that the background of the non-indictment was the withdrawal of the complaint and the petition for non-punishment. During the litigation, Lee Doo-hee revealed that he did not have high expectations for the court ruling because the police had already determined he was not guilty, and he noted that many people around him told him he should endure it since his name had become known. As the court ruled that the defendant is obligated to compensate for the mental damage suffered by the plaintiff, whose social reputation was damaged by illegal acts such as stating false facts, Lee Doo-hee stated that a single sentence in the written judgment washed away three years of hardship.

Correction order and criminal re-investigation

Following the final judgment, Lee Jin-ho must post a video on his YouTube channel within seven days of the judgment's finalization, featuring a correction statement as subtitles and being read aloud by him, and must maintain this for two years. If he fails to comply, he must pay 100,000 won per day as delayed compensation from the day after the deadline until completion, in addition to the 4 million won in alimony and delayed damages. As the court's ruling leaves a record that the broadcast content was false, the criminal defamation case against Lee Jin-ho, which had been closed with a non-indictment, is being re-investigated following an order for re-investigation and a request for supplementary investigation. Lee Doo-hee's side stated that the purpose of this lawsuit was not money, but to show that there are consequences when someone attacks another with untrue stories. He also made his position clear that he would follow through to the criminal proceedings so that others experiencing similar situations do not give up.

Lee Doo-hee expressed his gratitude to his wife Jisook and his acquaintances for supporting him through the long litigation. He also extended sincere thanks to lawyer Kim Gyu-hyeon for leading the entire case. Lee Doo-hee gained public recognition through appearances on programs such as the tvN variety show 'The Genius: Rule Breaker' and married Jisook of the group Rainbow in 2020. With this final judgment, the controversies and legal battles sparked by the YouTuber's spread of false information have concluded following the final decision of the judicial authorities, and attention is now focused on the results of the subsequent investigation into the related criminal case.

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