Actress Han Hye Jin Fined For Breach Of Contract + Agency Responds With Plans To Appeal

Actress Han Hye Jin has been ordered to pay 200 million won (approximately $171,844) for a breach of contract.

On December 23, Han Hye Jin’s agency Jikim Entertainment released a statement and stated plans to appeal the ruling.

According to a report by Financial News, the Seoul Central District Court ruled for Han Hye Jin to pay 200 million won to the plaintiff in a compensation suit filed by the Hanwoo Board against Han Hye Jin and SM C&C.

The court stated, “It was confirmed that in the committee’s notice of tender for the advertisement offer request, it said, ‘Participation of the promotional ambassador at events, Direct Dealing Marketplace at Cheonggye Plaza on Lunar New Year and Chuseok, and required attendance on Korean Beef Eating Day.’ It was confirmed that it was previously stated that Korean Beef Eating Day was included in the three events that Han Hye Jin was required to attend. They emphasized that Korean Beef Eating Day was a very important obligation in the contract and made numerous requests for her attendance.”

The court continued, “Han Hye Jin has a contractual obligation to attend the event, unless there are unavoidable circumstances. Despite receiving requests for attendance since June and having an agency that organizes her schedule, she did not attend the event due to family reasons overseas. Since this cannot be seen as an unavoidable circumstance, she is responsible for damages following the breach of contract.”

The court, however, ruled that the penalty of 500 million won (approximately $429,585) was unjustly excessive since she attended two events and filmed radio ads, and it reduced the penalty to 200 million won instead.

Han Hye Jin was appointed as the Korean Beef ambassador in 2018. At the time, the offer reportedly said, “The promotional ambassador must attend at least three events in a year, Direct Dealing Marketplace at Cheonggye Plaza on Lunar New Year and Chuseok, and the Korean Beef Eating Day event.” The contract also stated that if the ambassador failed to fulfill their contractual obligations for 250 million won (approximately $214,792), they must pay twice their payment as the penalty.

In June 2018, the Hanwoo Board requested Han Hye Jin’s attendance at the Direct Dealing Marketplace and Korean Beef Eating Day events via SM C&C. However, Han Hye Jin notified them of her absence, saying, “My husband Ki Sung Yueng is working in London and we have to move.” Ki Sung Yeung currently plays as a midfielder for Newcastle United and is also a member of the South Korean national soccer team.

Two months later, SM C&C told Han Hye Jin, “Participation at Chuseok Direct Dealing Marketplace and Korean Beef Eating Day events were things that were discussed at the beginning.” They also informed her of the possibility of future measures that could be taken against her, but Han Hye Jin did not end up attending the events.

The Hanwoo Board then terminated its contract with SM C&C and filed a compensation lawsuit against the agency for a total of 500 million won in damages.

A full statement from Han Hye Jin’s agency Jikim Entertainment is as follows:

This is Jikim Entertainment.

We would like to release the accurate facts and an official statement regarding the article reported earlier today regarding an advertisement.

First, we would like to inform you that the offer in the notice of tender was a promise between the board and SM C&C and completely different from the contract with us.

As for the participation at a minimum of three events which became an issue, it simply stated three events and did not have any specific event titles or dates. Although the ruling was made for the first trial regarding absence as reported in the article, we would like to state that we cannot accept this decision due to the reasons above.

We are preparing an appeal and are working on a deadline of submission through our lawyer. Through this incident, we feel upset that our agency’s actor is appearing in negative headlines and receiving malicious comments. We will try our best to set the record straight regarding this.

In addition, we sincerely ask that you refrain from reporting unconfirmed information with broad interpretations and spreading false, groundless information.

Thank you.

Watch Han Hye Jin in the 2018 drama “Hold Me Tight” below:

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