Luxury girl goes to court
By Lee Hyo-sik
A controversy surrounding a 24-year-old-woman, dubbed the “400-million-won ($343,000) luxury girl,” continues as she has filed civil and criminal suits against the cable TV channel that aired the program and her alleged ex-husband.
Kim Kyung-ah filed the suits with the Seoul Central District Court Thursday against Mnet cable TV and a man, identified only as Moon who claims to be her ex-husband. She demanded the cable TV pay 100 million won in compensation.
The situation exploded after Kim appeared in Mnet’s “Tent in the City” that was aired on Sept. 7 and bragged that the outfit and the accessories she was wearing were worth more than 400 million won.
Her casual remarks about her luxurious lifestyle and the video clips showing her brand bags and Bentley Continental GTC worth more than 200 million won angered viewers and raised questions about whether she should be subject to gift taxes.
After the program aired, her saga has spawned ugly sequels almost every day, with witnesses and all parties involved in the scandal making conflicting statements.
Taxable or not?
The woman claimed that she was single and had never married. She also said that she is not jobless but had a modeling job in Japan, though it is irregular.
However, a 32-year-old man, Moon, alleged that they were married last year and they divorced four months later, and confirmed that what she had said about her luxurious lifestyle on TV was all pretty much true.
His disclosure came several days after the woman remarked that the comments she made about her lifestyle on the TV program were lies and that she just read a script provided by the program producers, in response to the harsh growing public criticism against her overly luxurious way of living.
“We got married on July 8, 2009 and lived in a house in southern Seoul for about four months. We then divorced on Nov. 13,” Moon was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
Moon also said what Kim said about her life as depicted on TV was close to the truth, adding that she was a lavish spender and received money from her parents and uncle who are also rich.
“She owns at least 40 brand-name bags. Each is worth between 20 to 40 million won. She also said she lives in a 17-pyong villa. But I don’t think that is true. I am positive that she lives in an 80-pyong house, which costs as much as 900 million won to lease.”
As for the high-end car she drives, Moon said she paid a portion of the 240 million won price tag in a lump sum and pays 1.3 million won each month for the remaining balance, contradicting Kim’s assertion that she does not own the car and that she just leases it.
“She claimed to work as a model. But that was only once in Japan for fun. Kim has never had a job.” Moon is reportedly filing a countersuit against her.
Scripted or not?
The suggestion by the National Tax Service (NTS) that it may conduct a tax audit to uncover any irregularities in her spending sprees forced the 24-year-old to announce that she was not that rich.
As a victim of a reckless cable TV show, she said she was just reading the script as requested by the directors.
She added that she decided to appear on the program out of curiosity but the situation had gotton out of control. “I cannot get my life back to before the TV appearance. I really regret appearing on TV and hate the program producers.”
However, Mnet, an entertainment-only channel, claims the program was not scripted and that her lavish spending highlighted in the episode was clearly “real.”
It says it will decide whether to file a countersuit after the outcome of the ongoing investigation by the state broadcasting watchdog into the conflicting statements between the woman and the TV program.
A program staffer said that they provided the watchdog with all the data to prove that they never forced her to make any scripted remarks during the program. The outcome of the investigation is expected to be available next month.
‘4억 명품녀’ 1억원 손해배상 소송제기
최근 케이블TV Mnet의 ‘텐트인더시티’에 출연해 ‘4억 명품녀’로 지칭된 김경아씨(24)가 Mnet미디어와 프로그램 제작진을 상대로 1억원의 손해배상 청구소송을 제기했다. 김씨는 언론 인터뷰에서 자신을 김씨의 전 남편이라고 밝힌 문모씨도 명예훼손 등의 혐의로 고소해 명품녀 논란은 이제 법정에서 시비를 가리게 됐다.
김씨는 Mnet 프로그램에서 부모의 재산으로 호화스러운 생활을 하는 여성으로 소개됐고 출연 당시 몸에 걸친 것만 4억원이 넘는다고 밝혀 ‘4억 명품녀’로 알려졌다. 방송 후 김씨와 김씨 부모에 대해 세무조사를 해야 한다는 등 비난 여론이 높아졌으나 김씨는 “제작진이 과장 방송을 했다”고 주장하며 억울함을 호소해왔다.