'Big Mama' Lee Hye-jung's Husband Go Min-hwan Sued for Not Returning '80 Million Won' Jeonse Deposit

"Immediate Funds Unavailable... Delays in Payments Due to COVID-19 Crisis"

Lee Hye-jung and Go Min-hwan couple. / Photo by Channel A

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Obstetrician-gynecologist Director Go Min-hwan (69), well known as the husband of 'Big Mama' Lee Hye-jung, explained regarding the lawsuit filed against him for not returning the tenant's jeonse deposit, "After consultation with the tenant, a portion of the scheduled refund deposit was paid today, and we have also reached an agreement on the remaining deposit."

According to the legal community on the 25th, the Seoul Southern District Court is currently hearing a lawsuit filed by tenant A, who was living on a jeonse lease in a multi-family house owned by Director Go in Yeongdeungpo-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, seeking the return of 80 million won in jeonse deposit at the end of June.

Tenant A notified Director Go's side about the contract expiration one month before the end of the jeonse contract period in November last year, but Director Go's side reportedly delayed the payment of the jeonse deposit citing reasons such as "there is no money at the moment" and "it is difficult due to the COVID-19 situation."

Tenant A appealed, "I was unable to get the deposit back for several months, and I had to cancel the contract because I could not prepare the balance for the house to move into."

Photo by Yonhap News

On the other hand, Director Go's legal representative said in an interview with Korea Economic Daily on the 26th, "Regarding the remaining deposit besides the amount paid today, we have agreed with the tenant to pay it once the tenant finds a new house to move into and vacates the one-room unit currently occupied in the client's building."

Regarding "cases other than tenant A who have not received their deposits back from Director Go," the representative said, "Since other cases in the building involve many legal issues, please refrain from speculative reporting."

Meanwhile, it is known that the amount of accidents where landlords do not return jeonse deposits to tenants reached a record high last month. According to the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation, the amount of jeonse deposit return guarantee insurance accidents (cases) was 55.4 billion won (259 cases) last month, confirming that both the amount and the number of cases were the highest ever on a monthly basis.

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