Chairman Chey Tae-won Sues YouTubers Following Malicious Commenters... "Spreading False Information About Cohabitant's Private Life" (Comprehensive)

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has taken legal action against a YouTube channel that spread false information about him and his cohabitant, Kim Hee-young, CEO of the T&C Foundation.

According to reports on the 31st, Chairman Chey recently filed a complaint with the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul against the YouTube channel "A Channel" for violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation) by broadcasting false information about him and CEO Kim.

In the complaint, Chairman Chey's side claimed that A Channel, which mainly covers the private lives of celebrities and businesspeople, aired content about Chairman Chey and CEO Kim in mid-month, broadcasting clearly false information regarding CEO Kim's academic background, past history, and family relations, among other private matters.

According to the complaint, the content broadcast by A Channel was originally spread several years ago by some malicious commenters in an organized manner, and it has been conclusively proven false through past prosecution investigations and court rulings.

Previously, in 2019, Chairman Chey filed complaints with the police against 51 netizens who posted malicious comments, and about 20 of them were prosecuted for cyber defamation. Except for three who apologized to Chairman Chey and pleaded for leniency, most were found guilty, and some received court rulings ordering damages exceeding 100 million won.

Established in February this year, A Channel has broadcast unverified content such as reasons for divorces of famous people under sensational and provocative titles like "000 Shocking Confession" and "000 Shocking Recent Status." A Channel currently has over 140,000 subscribers, and the videos that Chairman Chey claims caused damage have reached 1.42 million views.

Chairman Chey is known to have taken legal action considering that if celebrities or businesspeople respond passively to fake news or false information, YouTube channels like A Channel and fake news could proliferate.

In March last year, Chairman Chey also filed a complaint against the YouTube channel "Garosero Research Institute," which spread false information about him, his family, and acquaintances, and the court ruled that the allegations raised in the broadcasts were false and constituted defamation against Chairman Chey.

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