A former agency employee who accused H.O.T.’s Jang Woo-hyuk, 47, of assault and workplace abuse has been found not guilty of defamation in a first-instance ruling.
According to MoneyToday, Judge Kim Min-jung of the Seoul Western District Court acquitted the ex-staffer, identified only as A, on charges of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act in a verdict handed down on the 29th of last month. The court said A’s online post could not be deemed false and found Jang’s counterclaim ― that A assaulted him ― “not credible.”
A’s allegations date back to a June 10, 2022 post. A wrote that while working for Jang’s company, Jang struck the back of A’s head with a gloved hand in a taxi during a 2014 business trip to China, and in 2020 allegedly cursed at A and hit the back of A’s hand while A was fitting his mic at a broadcast station.
Jang denied the accusations, asserting that, in the 2020 incident, A suddenly smacked his hand hard enough to make a loud sound, which he said triggered stage fright and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prosecutors deemed A’s post false and charged A with defamation in May 2023.
The court, however, found inconsistencies in testimony from witnesses who claimed to have seen Jang being struck, and said A’s account was more specific and natural than the idea that a staffer would hit the agency head. The ruling also cited remarks attributed to Jang ― such as “Why do you bother me like this,” “You ruin my mood,” “You don’t belong here,” and “You should be grateful ― you’re nothing” ― as verbal abuse, concluding A was not lying.
Prosecutors have appealed the verdict.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)