Jang Woo Hyuk's Former Staffer Cleared Again as Appeals Court Upholds Defamation Acquittal

An appeals court has again found a former agency employee not guilty of defamation. The employee had accused Jang Woo Hyuk, originally of H.O.T., of verbal abuse and assault.

On October 15, the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Appeals Division 2-1 threw out the prosecution's appeal and kept the lower court's acquittal of the former employee, Kim. Naver reported the ruling, via Koreaboo.

Kim had been indicted for defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. The court said the extra evidence prosecutors submitted on appeal was not enough to reverse the first verdict.

The case goes back to June 2022. That month, Kim posted claims online that Jang had insulted him as a matter of habit and had assaulted him on two occasions.

Kim said the first incident took place in 2014 during a work trip to China. He claimed Jang, wearing leather gloves, struck the back of his head in a taxi.

The second incident allegedly happened in 2020 in a broadcast waiting room. Kim said Jang hit his hand and shouted insults at him while Kim was being fitted with a microphone.

Jang called every allegation groundless and sued Kim for defamation. On the 2020 waiting room incident, he argued that Kim was the one who assaulted him. The court did not accept that claim.