Jang Woo-hyuk of H.O.T. files suit against former employees for defamation

Singer Jang Woo-hyuk [JOONGANG ILBO]

Jang Woo-hyuk, a member of Korea’s hit 1990s boy band H.O.T., filed a suit against two former employees for defamation and interfering with business on Tuesday.

Last month, a netizen posted online that he was harassed — both physically and verbally — during his time as a trainee to become an artist at an entertainment company that was run by a “former member of Korea’s first-generation boy band.”

Soon after, another netizen also backed up the first allegation by saying he, too, was verbally abused by the same person. The netizen said he was hired to look for new recruits and plan new albums, but was forced to work overtime and was not paid properly.

Though the accusers didn’t identify Jang as the perpetrator, netizens soon speculated that the “former member of Korea’s first generation boy band” referred to Jang, and criticism toward the band member spread online.

A few days later, the netizen of the initial post wrote another statement saying that he met with his former boss and they resolved the issue and exchanged apologies.

Jang wrote on his fan site that he decided to file a lawsuit because of his fans.

“I was going to just tolerate it on my own, but my fans were having a hard time because of the rumors,” he wrote. “I want to become an artist they're proud of, so I decided to take legal action and prove my innocence.”

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]