Hyejin Han, Found Not Guilty in Appeal Trial for 200 Million Won Compensation over 'Event No-Show'

Court: "The contract does not specify attendance at the 'Hanwoo Eating Day' event"

Actress Han Hye-jin was sued for damages after missing an event of the organization she was working as an advertising model for due to personal reasons, but she won the appeal.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Actress Han Hye-jin was sued for damages after failing to attend an event organized by the organization she was modeling for due to personal reasons, but she won the appeal.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Seoul High Court Civil Division 3 (Presiding Judges Shim Jun-bo, Kim Gap-seok, Kim Jae-ryeong) overturned the original ruling that ordered Han and advertising agency A to pay 200 million won in damages in the lawsuit filed by the Hanwoo Self-Support Fund Management Committee against Han and agency A, and ruled in favor of the defendants.

The Hanwoo Self-Support Fund Management Committee signed a contract with Han Hye-jin through agency A in 2018. According to the contract, Han was to shoot one video and one print advertisement each and attend three events.

Later, the Hanwoo Self-Support Fund Management Committee requested Han’s side through agency A to attend the 'Hanwoo Eating Day' event held the same year. However, Han did not attend the event, citing the reason that she had to move to the UK where her husband was active, and the committee filed a lawsuit against agency A and Han.

Through the trial, the Hanwoo Self-Support Fund Management Committee demanded, "Since Han violated the contract by not attending the event without justifiable reason, she must pay 500 million won, which is twice the contract amount (250 million won)."

The first trial court ruled, "Han was sufficiently aware of the event schedule and was requested to attend, but she did not attend due to a family move, which is difficult to consider as an unavoidable reason," and judged that Han should compensate. However, considering that Han attended two other events and participated in the advertisement shoot, the damages were set at 200 million won. The court also ruled that agency A was not liable for compensation.

However, the appellate court judged that Han only contracted to attend three events in total and was not obligated to attend the 'Hanwoo Eating Day' event specifically.

The appellate court stated, "The contract between the parties specifies Han’s appearances as one video, one print, and three events, and states that 'the schedule for event appearances should be discussed in advance considering the model’s other activities,' but it does not explicitly state that Han must attend the 'Hanwoo Eating Day' event."

Furthermore, "It is difficult to see that Han agreed to attend a specific event at the time of the contract. Even if Han did not attend the event requested by the Hanwoo Self-Support Fund Management Committee, it cannot be considered a breach of contract," the court explained.

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