In a civil lawsuit against people who made false statements about her brother-in-law's sexual assault case, singer and actress Son Dam Bi has been awarded some damages.
The Seoul Western District Court said on January 7 that Civil Division 12 told two defendants to pay 300,000 KRW (about 207 USD) and 200,000 KRW (about 140 USD), for a total of 500,000 KRW (about 345 USD). The court said that the defendants' use of rude and insulting language broke Son's personal rights.
Legal sources told AllKpop that Son first asked for 23 million KRW (about 15,900 USD) in damages. The final amount was decided after looking at the comments, how bad they were, and the situation around them. Reports say that she also sued three other commenters in the same way, but she later dropped those cases while they were still going on.
The lawsuit was connected to the sexual assault case against Son's brother-in-law, Lee Kyu Hyun, a former figure skating coach who was accused of trying to assault a minor while pretending to celebrate her getting into school.
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The court told Sports Khan, "The defendants must pay money to the plaintiff for emotional distress caused by their false statements about the plaintiff."
In June 2022, Lee was formally charged. In January 2023, the Criminal Division 1 of the Uijeongbu District Court Namyangju Branch found him guilty of attempted rape, indecent assault by compulsion, and breaking the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
He was sentenced to four years in prison. The court also made him go through 40 hours of sexual violence treatment programs and banned him from working with children for 10 years. He is now in Uijeongbu Prison serving his time.
Because Son was married to Lee's older brother, she was the target of online abuse during the criminal case. People said things like "She married into a rapist's family" and "She married for money and got what she deserved," which had nothing to do with anything she did wrong.
Son filed the lawsuit in February 2025, saying that the comments were an attack on her dignity. Legal experts say that the court's decision sets a precedent by saying that people can't be held responsible for what their family members do and that malicious online attacks can be illegal violations of personal rights.
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