Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
In a weird twist, Kim Hyun Joong‘s lawyers came forth claiming that they were being threatened by a media outlet, basically because said media outlet decided to do their jobs correctly. The problem? Key East Entertainment, Kim Hyun Joong’s own company, disagreed with Kim Hyun Joong’s lawyers.
Kim Hyun Joong’s attorney Lee Jae Man told a reporter at MBN Star via phone call earlier today, “Last August, Choi’s side handed over the documents related to her pregnancy and the miscarriage, which resulted from physical abuse, to ‘A’ media outlet. ‘A’ told Kim Hyun Joong’s agency Key East that they possessed the documents. ‘A’ deny that they threatened Kim Hyun Joong but he was told by his agency (Key East) that ‘A’ has documents related to Choi.” According to the report, after Kim Hyun Joong learned of ‘A’s possession of the documents, he was extremely fearful that the situation would spread via media and handed over 600 million KRW (~ $515,000 USD) in settlement money. The lawyer explained, “Key East claims ‘A’ media outlet never threatened them, but Kim Hyun Joong concluded that what his agency told him held more credibility than what he heard from Choi. After he learned [of this], he felt that he was being threatened and attempted to settle by giving 600 million KRW.”
So basically, Kim Hyun Joong’s lawyers are holding the media outlet as complicit in some kind of blackmailing of Kim Hyun Joong through Key East.
Thing is, both the media outlet and Key East didn’t think it was anything but routine journalism.
A rep from Key East claimed, “We didn’t feel that we were threatened by ‘A’ but just thought of it as routine coverage,” making a firm distinction between what Kim Hyun Joong had deemed a “threat.” ‘A’ also denied the lawyer’s claim, stating, “It was simply routine coverage.”
From my point of view, it seems like the media outlet was actually just doing their due diligence. When somebody comes forward with claims like the ex did, as a journalist you’re supposed to give the other side a chance to respond before running the story, and the media outlet did exactly that. However, now that action appears to have been construed by Kim Hyun Joong as a threat, according to his lawyers. It’s weird.
I honestly have no idea what the fuck his side is doing at this point, since releasing this information basically only makes Kim Hyun Joong look like a gigantic moron and themselves look like they have no idea what standard news procedure is.
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On a related note — I wasn’t going to cover this but I might as well throw this in here — Kim Hyun Joong’s ex is suing him and his lawyer back for libel and defamation.
