Court rules Kim Soo-hyun to return model fee of 1.1 billion won for 'suspension of advertising'

Recognizing force majeure due to the spread of false information by a third party... Exemption from liability for penalty compensation

(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Sol = A court ruled that actor Kim Soo-hyun must return 1.1 billion won in model fees to advertisers during the period when advertising was suspended as his image was tarnished due to suspicions related to the late Kim Sae-ron.

According to the legal community on the 13th, the 14th Civil Affairs Division of the Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Moon Hyun-ho) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in part, ordering the defendants to pay 1.1598 billion won to the plaintiff in the lawsuit for damages filed by Frombio, a health functional food company, against Kim Soo-hyun.

FromBio used Kim Soo-hyun as an advertising model starting in October 2024, but stopped using it in advertising the following year after being embroiled in controversy due to suspicions that he had dated Kim Sae-ron, who was a minor.

Accordingly, FromBio filed a lawsuit against Kim Soo-hyun and her agency in May of last year, claiming that the brand image was damaged and suffered damages, requesting 3.96 billion won in modeling fees and penalties.

The court ruled that Kim Soo-hyun's side should return the model fee for the period during which the advertisement was not used, saying, "The defendant's positive and trustworthy image was not maintained due to the suspicions in this case, and as a result, he was unable to carry out promotional activities for the product."

However, since the damage to Kim Soo-hyun's image was mainly caused by the spread of false information by a third party, it was determined that it was a reason for force majeure under the contract, and that he did not have to be held responsible for paying penalties for breach of contract.

The purpose is to take into account the fact that Kim Se-eui, the head of the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, was previously arrested and indicted on charges of spreading false information about Kim Soo-hyun in relation to the controversy.

In response to this, Gold Medalist, Kim Soo-hyun's agency, said, "It is completely unacceptable to require modeling fees to be returned to victims of the crime of spreading false information," and added, "We plan to actively dispute this at the appeals court."