Kang Ji Hwan Wins the Legal Battle Against His Old Agency

The Seoul Central District Court recently dismissed the lawsuit verifying the validity of a contract filed by actor Kang Ji Hwan’s former agency, SPLUS Entertainment. In addition, Kang Ji Hwan’s lawsuit against SPLUS was successful and he will receive 5,000,000 won (roughly $4715) in damages. 

In January of 2010, SPLUS signed an exclusive management contract with Kang Ji Hwan. Because this was done before the termination of his contract with Jambo Entertainment, he had to suspend his entertainment activities for roughly eight months at the advice of the Korean Entertainment Management Association.

From October to December of last year, Kang Ji Hwan avoided contact with SPLUS and entrusted his management to his attorney. SPLUS claimed that “Because, at his own fault, he [Kang Ji Hwan] couldn’t participate in entertainment activities for ten months, it was necessary to automatically extend the length of his contract for that same length of time,” and filed a lawsuit to confirm this. Upon review of the contents of the contract and finding no word about automatic extension of the contract, the lawsuit was dismissed.

Last December, SPLUS distributed to internet news reporters false information about Kang Ji Hwan and him ranting about his managers. Kang Ji Hwan then sued the agency for defamation. SPLUS was recently ordered to compensate Kang Ji Hwan for damages in the amount of 5,000,000 won, on the grounds that the information released was enough to negatively affect his reputation, including false information about unreasonable and immoral actions by Kang Ji Hwan and his lack of qualifications as a public figure.