Luxury gal still in the news

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Luxury gal still in the news

The scandal over “Korea’s Paris Hilton,” a 23-year old single gal who told a TV show that she was wearing 400 million won ($345,000) worth of clothes and jewels and then said the TV producers made her exaggerate, took a new turn when her alleged ex-husband confirmed her free-spending ways.

The 32-year old dermatologist said Wednesday in an interview with Yonhap News that he married Korea’s “Material Girl” last year and divorced four months later, showing a marriage certificate.

“Reflecting on past times with her, I think most of what she said on the show is true,” he said. “I regret meeting the girl who has an excessive consumption habit.”

He said that the woman received allowances from her parents and uncle, who is known as an owner of a multipurpose building in Seoul.

“She is actually living in a 264 square meters (316 square yards) luxury villa in Nonhyun-dong, Gangnam District in Seoul,” the doctor said. “In the villa, she has more than 40 brand-name handbags worth more than 800 million won ($689,952).”

“It is true that she bought a pink Bentley sports car, but on monthly installments of 1.3 million won per month,” he said. “ I don’t know the actual price of her necklace in the shape of Hello Kitty”.

He also said the gal worked as a model in Japan just once and out of curiosity, not as a professional model. The girl told reporters that she was a freelance model.

According to Ilgan Sports, the woman is planning to file a defamation suit against the channel, Mnet, which aired the program, and the dermatologist as well. The doctor plans a countersuit, Ilgan Sports said.

After the TV program aired, a necklace the woman was wearing, and which she said cost more than 200 million won, became a center of controversy because its designer said he hadn’t been paid in full for the jewelry, which he said was worth 40 million won. He told the press he’s owed 15 million won and will sue the woman.

Tax authorities investigated her family to see if they had paid gift taxes for her allowances.

Afterwards, the woman told the media that the TV program had made her read an exaggerated script.


By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]
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