Overview
- Brand A raised its demand from 500 million won to 2.86 billion won by invoking a clause that doubles the model fee and adding alleged actual losses.
- The Seoul Central District Court held the first hearing on November 21 after the company ended the ad contract in March, months before its August 2025 expiry.
- Brand A argues a morality-clause breach tied to controversy over Kim Soo-hyun’s past relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron and an alleged reversal of his public stance.
- Kim Soo-hyun’s legal team denies any relationship while she was a minor and disputes that the contract imposed a breached obligation.
- The court urged a review of the damages methodology, the sides disputed whether the brand fully removed his promotional images, and other advertisers have filed separate claims of roughly 7.3 billion won.