Actor Choi Jung-won has prevailed in a lawsuit accusing him of being an “other man” who broke up a marriage, with the court siding with Choi nearly two years after the case began.
According to a ruling Choi shared on Instagram, the Seoul Family Court on Nov. 25 dismissed all claims brought by “A” against Choi and ordered A to cover litigation costs.
A, the husband of Choi’s female acquaintance “B,” had sued both B and Choi, alleging an affair that destroyed his family. A claimed Choi contacted B, drank with her by the Han River on May 27, 2022, and took her to his home under the pretext of needing a restroom break―assertions he said proved an illicit relationship.
The court saw it differently. In September, an appellate panel overturned an earlier ruling and found in favor of B; now, the court has reached the same conclusion for Choi. The decision isn’t final: A filed an appeal the day the verdict was handed down.
“The ruling confirms I was not an affair partner,” Choi said, adding that speculation and false claims have fueled misunderstanding and secondary harm. “Any further spread of falsehoods or distorted rumors will be met with legal action.”
Choi also noted that last year A was fined 3 million won for instigating online threats and defamation under Korea’s Information and Communications Network Act. He released an audio recording in which A allegedly says, “A lawyer told me it usually costs 30 to 40 million won to sue, but since he’s a washed-up celebrity, we can squeeze as much as 100 million won out of him,” a remark that sparked backlash.
Choi added that several additional complaints over defamation and unlawful conduct are underway. He maintained that the referenced dinner was a casual meet-up among acquaintances and that there was no inappropriate relationship. “I hope the misunderstandings and damage caused by false claims end here,” he said.
A fired back on social media, alleging he’d hired a lawyer tied to the “Our Law Research Society” and deriding the outcome as a “code ruling” by a like-minded judge. He said his divorce case over alleged infidelity is pending before the Supreme Court and that he has already appealed the separate suit involving Choi. “I feel enormous anger toward Choi Jung-won for deceiving the public and the victim, wrecking a normal family, and getting involved with a married woman,” A wrote. “If it weren’t for him, my family wouldn’t have fallen apart.”
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)