YouTube commentator denies allegations in defamation case filed by Kim Sae-ron’s family
The portrait and name plaque of actress Kim Sae-ron are carried to a hearse at Asan Medical Center in Seoul on Feb. 19. Yonhap
YouTuber Lee Jin-ho, who runs the channel @Behind_Master, denied accusations of defamation after the family of actress Kim Sae-ron filed a lawsuit against him.
Lee insisted that he never referred to Kim’s situation as a "fabrication," which is a key claim in the legal action.
Lee uploaded a video to his YouTube channel on Monday titled "This is my response to the lawsuit. I will reveal the truth" to explain his position. "I fully respect the position of the bereaved family who lost their child," he said. "However, I want to correct the factual inaccuracies in the allegations."
In the video, Lee refuted the accusations Kim's family made against him. Boo Ji-seok, an attorney representing the family from the law firm Buyou, filed a criminal complaint with the police on the same day, citing defamation through the spread of false information. Boo claimed that although Kim had been in a relationship with actor Kim Soo-hyun when she was a minor, Lee reported that their relationship was a "fabrication." However, Lee said that he "never described Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun’s relationship as a fabrication in any of my videos or broadcasts."
Lee also addressed a video he created and later deleted, which featured a photo of Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun together. "The video included an explanation from Kim Sae-ron’s family regarding how and why she had uploaded the photo to social media," he said. "If I had initially dismissed their relationship as a ‘fabrication,’ then there would have been no reason for Kim Sae-ron’s side to clarify any details." He argued that there is a contradiction between the stance of the family’s legal representative and that of the family itself.
Attorney Boo Ji-seok, legal representative for the late Kim Sae-ron’s family, submits a complaint at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency regarding a defamation case against YouTuber Lee Jin-ho, Monday. Yonhap
Lee also denied allegations that he covered Kim Sae-ron’s story at the behest of Kim Soo-hyun’s agency. "It is completely false that I was instructed by Kim Soo-hyun’s company to create videos about Kim Sae-ron," he said, emphasizing that his content was based on independent reporting.
However, Kim Sae-ron’s family intends to escalate their legal response against Lee. "Lee not only denied that the two were in a relationship but also spread falsehoods that portrayed the deceased in a negative light, causing her extreme psychological distress," said Boo. He added, "We plan to file additional lawsuits regarding other videos in the future."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.