[Exclusive] Song Ha-ye's Side Sues Candidate Kim Geun-tae for "Serious Business Obstruction and Defamation Due to False Information Dissemination"

Singer Song Ha-ye / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Kim Geun-tae, a proportional representation candidate of the People’s Party, recently confirmed signs of manipulation in music charts and mentioned the real names of some singers. In response, singer Song Ha-ye’s agency has filed a complaint against candidate Kim.

On the 17th, Song Ha-ye’s agency, The Hagi Media, released an official statement saying, "Regarding the recent signs of music chart manipulation announced by candidate Kim at a press conference, we have submitted a complaint to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office through our legal representative, charging him with obstruction of business and defamation due to the spread of false information."

The agency stated, "On January 8, Kim Geun-tae, who was the spokesperson for the Preparatory Committee of the Jeongmin Party, mentioned with a photo that there were signs of Song Ha-ye’s music stockpiling, claiming it was an attempt to manipulate music charts. However, as we have repeatedly stated, the company called Anstar Company was not our promotional agency, and there is no fact that we colluded to manipulate the music rankings related to Song Ha-ye’s songs," emphasizing this point.

They continued, "Even on the 8th, Kim Geun-tae mentioned real names and stated false facts that our agency manipulated the music rankings related to Song Ha-ye’s songs together with a marketing company, damaging the reputation of our agency and affiliated artist. Due to the continuous spread of false information, we are suffering not only business obstruction but also serious defamation," expressing their grievances.

They added, "The illegal manipulation group, Creativer, also plans to file a complaint. If any investigation is necessary, we will sincerely cooperate with any investigation and will continue to take strong legal action against all those who damage the reputation of our artist," they concluded.

Earlier, on the 8th, candidate Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly Communication Office and announced that the underground marketing company Creativer manipulated music rankings using IDs obtained through illegal hacking.

On that day, candidate Kim stated, "The singers confirmed to have been manipulated by them are Go Seung-hyung, Gongwon Sonyeo, Bad Kids, Bolbbalgan4, Song Ha-ye, Youngtak, Yoyomi, Sohyang, Ali, and Lee Gi-kwang. Creativer rented servers, partitioned them, installed multiple Windows systems to play music, or made computers recognized as mobile devices to play and download music," he claimed.

Below is the full official statement from Song Ha-ye’s agency, The Hagi Media

Hello, this is The Hagi Media.

We have today submitted a complaint to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office through our legal representative (Attorney Heo Jong-seon of Hanbyul Law Firm) charging Kim Geun-tae, a proportional representation candidate of the People’s Party, with obstruction of business and defamation due to the spread of false information regarding the recent signs of music chart manipulation he announced at a press conference.

On January 8, Kim Geun-tae, who was the spokesperson for the Preparatory Committee of the Jeongmin Party, once mentioned with a photo that our affiliated artist was attempting to stockpile music, stating that signs of Song Ha-ye’s music stockpiling had been found.

However, as we have repeatedly stated in our official statements, the company called Anstar Company was not our promotional agency, and there is no fact that The Hagi Media and Anstar Company colluded to manipulate the music rankings related to Song Ha-ye’s songs.

Furthermore, on April 8, Kim Geun-tae, despite the fact that our agency did not manipulate the music rankings related to Song Ha-ye’s songs together with any marketing company, mentioned real names and stated false facts, damaging the reputation of our agency and affiliated artist.

Due to the continuous spread of false information like this, our agency and affiliated artist are suffering great business obstruction as well as serious defamation.

Additionally, the illegal manipulation group Creativer (CEO Kim Dae-geon) also plans to file a complaint. We inform you that we will sincerely cooperate with any necessary investigations, and we will continue to take strong legal action against all those who damage the reputation of our artist.

Thank you.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.