Actor Koo loses lawsuit against former agency

Actor Koo Hye-sun [YONHAP]

Actor Koo Hye-sun lost the lawsuit filed against her former agency HB Entertainment, with the agency announcing Tuesday that it would take firm legal action against the star for false reports and unfair claims.

The Seoul Central District Court on Sunday dismissed all of Koo’s claims in a damages lawsuit filed by the actor against HB Entertainment. Koo had demanded that HB Entertainment pay her 107 million won ($83,540) in damages, claiming that the agency had not paid her fees for her appearances on the agency’s YouTube channel.

Koo uploaded a post on her social media channel on Tuesday saying that she had appeared on HB Entertainment’s YouTube channel without payment, that the agency had erased videos of her with her pet without consultation, and that the agency had made criminal complaints against “people who had come forward as witnesses to help me.”

HB Entertainment refuted Koo’s claims in a statement also made Tuesday, saying that she is “posing as a victim” with “false claims.”

“The judgment of the Korea Commercial Arbitration Board and the courts is that there are no unpaid fees from HB Entertainment to Koo,” said the agency in a press release. “This case has nothing to do with non-payment of fees or abuse of power as Koo claims. Koo has been damaging HB Entertainment’s reputation and credibility with various false claims over the years. Since Koo is an actor who was previously signed with us, we refrained from media reports and responded solely via the legal procedure to Koo’s claims, but we can no longer ignore the matter and will proceed with legal action against Koo’s false claims.”

Koo debuted in 2002 via a commercial and established herself as an actor by appearing in various TV dramas, including the hit KBS series “Boys over Flowers" (2009). She has also tried her hand at movie directing for films including “Daughter” (2014), “Mystery Pink” (2018) and “Deep Sleep” (2018).

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]