Writer Kim Soo Min Files Lawsuit Against Yoon Ji Oh For Defamation + Accuses Her Of Taking Advantage Of The Jang Ja Yeon Case

Actress Yoon Ji Oh and writer Kim Soo Min are now engaged in a legal battle.

On April 23, lawyer Park Hoon, the legal representative for Kim Soo Min, filed a complaint against Yoon Ji Oh with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in central Seoul for defamation and contempt. A number of screen captures of Kakao Talk conversations between Kim Soo Min and Yoon Ji Oh were submitted as evidence.

Writer Kim Soo Min came to know Yoon Ji Oh when she was preparing to publish her book “The 13th Testimony” (literal translation). He is claiming that Yoon Ji Oh had no close relationship with Jang Ja Yeon and that her claims of witnessing Jang Ja Yeon’s list are false. The investigation team of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, which is re-investigating the Jang Ja Yeon case, recently met Kim Soo Min and two others to hear related statements.

After submitting the lawsuit, Kim Soo Min’s lawyer, Park Hoon, said to reporters, “Yoon Ji Oh is taking advantage of the unfair death of the late Jang Ja Yeon. Yoon Ji Oh has seen nothing but Mr. Cho’s sexual harassment. She is claiming to ‘risk her life to testify’ and is receiving financial support. The Jang Ja Yeon list that Yoon Ji Oh says she saw was a document related to the investigation. The late Jang Ja Yeon never made a list. Still, Yoon Ji Oh called Kim Soo Min’s revelations a fabrication, and she has not hesitated to make extreme accusations against him.”

Kim Soo Min’s lawyer continued, saying that in a Kakao Talk conversation with Kim Soo Min, Yoon Ji Oh said that she was never close to Jang Ja Yeon. “She claims to have seen the list after [her] statement to the truth and reconciliation committee. The death of the deceased was monopolized by someone who should not do so. And she opened an account to receive financial aid. [Kim Soo Min] had no choice but to be angry. [Yoon Ji Oh] asked Kim Soo Min tenaciously about royalties. New writers are in the 7 percent range, and Yoon Ji Oh’s contracts are with 12 percent. Kim Soo Min said, ‘It’s on the level of writer Gong Ji Young.’ There is detailed conversation about publishing rights and her talking about how she would take it all.”

Park Hoon revealed, “We warned her several times. We told her to not get in the way of the Jang Ja Yeon case, not say anything about it, and leave the country. The next day, she replied, ‘Whatever.’ We can’t stand it anymore. Today’s complaint marks the first official issue for Yoon Ji Oh, who is taking advantage of the death of the late Jang Ja Yeon. We hope she is confidently investigated.”

Reporter Kim Dae Oh, who first reported on the Jang Ja Yeon case and claims to have seen the late actress’s documents in person, also accompanied Park Hoon to the press. He refuted Yoon Ji Oh’s claim in “The 13th Testimony,” saying, “I’ve never seen this in the original documents.” He wrote, “Yoon Ji Oh says she saw copies of seven pages and a list of 40 to 50 names. But I can swear on my life that the list part was never in the original. She claims it was in a letter format, but it was Jun Joon Joo who created the letter format. It appeared about a year after the incident. The part that says, ‘I was forced to serve alcohol on my mother’s memorial date’ was never in any of the documents I saw. This is something the road manager of Jang Ja Yeon told the police. I don’t understand why [Yoon Ji Oh] is claiming that this content appears in the suicide note.”

When reports emerged that writer Kim Soo Min was submitting the official complaint, Yoon Ji Oh captured a Kakao Talk conversation with someone who appears to be a reporter from a media outlet and released it on her Instagram. Yoon Ji Oh said, “Tell me the truth about them. Kim Soo Min manipulated the messages, and about lawyer Park Hoon, I don’t even have to explain. They’re not worth responding to. Neither they nor I are the ones in the spotlight. This is a re-investigation. Not a single reporter is reporting on how far the investigation has gone. They are standing by the attackers and attacking the witnesses who exist for the victims.'”

In another post on her Instagram, Yoon Ji Oh said of Kim Soo Min, “He’s a man who lacks common sense and said he’d post my picture and reveal my identity before I [came out as the witness] myself. He caused additional damage to the victims of the incident at Isu Station, and now he’s doing the same to me because he faced no consequences the first time. I’m a witness who exists for the victim and has testified 16 times in more than a decade, so how can you question my credibility? If the police and the prosecution have investigated a liar 16 times, then you need to take it up with them. It doesn’t make sense. I’ve only met him once, and he’s got nothing to do with me, Jang Ja Yeon, or her family.”

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