JYP denies ITZY member Lia's bullying allegations

[waves-of-light.livejournal.com]

*a follow up to this post


JYP Entertainment, home to K-pop girl group ITZY, denied Tuesday allegations that member Lia bullied her classmate when she was in middle school.

The company recently filed a complaint with police against an internet user in her 20s for allegedly defaming Lia with the bullying allegations, but the case was dropped. JYP said it will ask the law enforcement agency to reinvestigate the allegations, which have "tarnished" Lia's reputation.

"The fact that she (the accuser) has been cleared of the defamation suspicion does not imply that Lia bullied her," the label said in a statement. "We are planning to request a reinvestigation so that the truth can be uncovered. We believe no one should fall victim to distortion."

The Incheon Yeonsu Police Station said it decided not to send the case to the prosecution as there was insufficient evidence that the accuser fabricated her stories to tarnish Lia's name.

"The aim of the investigation was not to find out whether Lia committed violence in the past," a police official told the Edaily, a local media outlet Tuesday.

The accuser raised the bullying suspicion first in 2018, insisting Lia ― whose real name is Choi Ji-su ― verbally abused her. She also claimed that the star did not pay back money she borrowed from her classmate and ostracized another student for no clear reason.

Lia, 20, debuted as a member of ITZY in 2019 with the track "Dalla Dalla." With the song, ITZY, consisting of Yeji, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, Yuna and Lia, clinched the No. 1 spot on a Korean music show only 10 days after its debut.

Since then, the quintet has put out a series of hits, including "Icy" (2019) and "Not Shy" (2020), becoming one of the most sought-after K-pop rookie groups. With its latest release, "Guess Who," ITZY entered the Billboard 200 chart for the first since its debut, grabbing the No. 148 spot.






source: The Korea Times

Comments

[daynr.livejournal.com]

It still seems like the police JYPE are talking past each other.

What was the aim of the investigation? The conclusion was that they can't determine veracity of the accusation, but it also wasn't to determine if Lia committed violence (which fair, those are different, if potentially related, things.) JYPE is still talking about defamation, which is a different claim. In my country, defamation in this situation would be civil, so the police wouldn't be involved in that investigation regardless. I am not clear if defamation is investigated by the police/prosecutors in Korea, but maybe it depends on which aspect/severity of the defamation.

Past celebrities/post included famous people suing/counter-suing for defamation, which would be civil in my country. I don't know about Korea though.

(This may be in the most interested I have been in legal stuff in months, because the various threads are murky here.)

[happypurinsu.livejournal.com]

I know about this topic firsthand - defamation can be tried as both civil and criminal offences in South Korea.
Also, in Korea, even if what you say is true, you can be punished for defamation (fine or jail). However, the plaintiff has to prove that it was said with malicious intent and that they suffered from it (financial loss or similar, e.g. problems at the workplace, since saving face means everything to Koreans). But, if the accused can argue that it was said for the better good of the public, then they won't be punished.

In this particular case, the police couldn't determine whether what A say was completely true or not. However, considering this is the second time JYP has lost against A, there should be enough evidence to support that what A says is at least partially true, meaning that Lia *did* do something that was, at the very least, bordering bullying. In best-case scenario, it could be "misunderstandings between youths", but in worst-case scenario, it could be straight-up school violence - for us outsiders, it's hard to know for sure, especially considering it happened years ago. But, because Lia is a public figure, even if this has tarnished her reputation, A can argue that it's in the interest of the public to know about her (Lia's) "true" character, hence why JYP isn't successful in getting A sentenced. Of course, this might change, but that's how it is for now. Oh, and A can also argue that seeing Lia promote is hurtful to her, but she likely wouldn't win that, even if Lia is guilty of school violence.

Sorry for all the edits... corrected some grammar + added info.

[daynr.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the information, it's super interesting!

Of course I only have more questions, but I don't expect you to answer them. I am just going to mull them out in writing, but I also may be fixating on specific words because they are terms on art in the American legal system; does not mean they don't have a broader/different meaning that my legal training is disregarding. (And all this interest is not because I am Lia stan, but more because my vague recollection serves up that male celebrities are traditionally successful with any defamation claim, but I also don't want to bury myself in those depressing stories to check.)

The police being unable to determine if true or not could go either way, no? If it's all verbal then it is hard to prove the absence or presence, and witness recollections could be murky or contradictory.

Sentence = criminal trial to me, but I assume that instead a Judge dismissed a JYPE civil case in the early stages or that prosecution declined to purse/charge. I will see if I can gather some specifics on that, including the reason. I may go try to figure out on what grounds . . .

[happypurinsu.livejournal.com]

I should probably quickly note that neither English nor Korean is my native language, so my terminology and word choice might be unprecise, sorry. I also don't have an education in law; my knowledge is based on 5 years of firsthand experience (in Korea), which has included a great deal of research to decide what my next step should be in my own case. Also, I don't know the specifics of this particular case, so don't take what I say as 100% factual. But anyway!


The police being unable to determine if true or not could go either way, no?
Oh, absolutely, especially if JYP keeps pushing to overturn the prosecution's decision of dismissing it. However, what speaks in A's favour is that 1) she accused Lia of bullying before her debut (which could be taken as warning others beforehand = "in the best interest of the public"/not out of pure malice), and 2) that JYP has already failed against A twice (or more?), meaning that A must have provided enough evidence that suggests her account holds at least partial truth, so that her accusations have not and/or cannot be proven as definite false (if that were the case, then finding her guilty of defamation would be much easier) - whether this evidence is texts or photos, other witnesses or Lia herself slipping up, we can really only speculate (also, please note that I say 'evidence' and not 'proof'; if there had been proof, this case would probably look quite different). Although murky for sure, there must have been enough to doubt Lia being 'innocent' and A being a malicious liar. That being said, as it stands now, both are deemed "not guilty" by the legal system.

Now, I'm guessing, but it sounds like JYP has been trying to take the civil offence course, with hopes of having the police turn it into a criminal offence (but instead, the police recommended for the prosecution to throw out the whole case before it went to a judge, which they did), instead of forcefully suing her and taking it directly to a criminal trial with the help of an attorney, which would be seriously costly. This, to me, shows that JYP knows that their case is weak and that they would likely lose money if they went the aggressive route (is ITZY popular? I don't know but I doubt the trouble of 'saving' a member like that would be worth it. Of course, I could be wrong). Also, it's puzzling to me that there seems to have been no talk about settlements, which is usually the route that the police attempt to take in such cases (civil suits). Anyway, considering how all this has progressed, the police will likely keep dismissing the case before it goes to court, unless something major changes it - and even if JYP did eventually manage to get A found guilty of defamation somehow, the punishment would be a warning and/or a fine (to be paid to the Korean authorities) and not compensation (to Lia/JYP) or jail time. Unless JYP really does intend on blowing a lot of money & energy into this, which they haven't thus far.

I don't really see either side emerging as "clear winners" because of how vague yet complicated this case is - it will probably stay a "she said vs she said". JYP might just be trying to drag it out long enough for the public to lose interest (without wasting too much money) while pretending to defend Lia (if they didn't, it would be like admitting guilt, which would reflect badly on both ITZY and JYP). I mean, it's far from the first time such a strategy has been played.

[daynr.livejournal.com]

ahhh, this was more helpful context, thank you. I appreciate all the time you spent explaining!

"she said — she said" is always so complicated to determine who/what to believe, or even if you choose to believe, context can still matter. degrees of nastiness is maybe what I mean? Anyway, I will keep paying attention to the case!

[921227.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting! && a little bit similar in the US tbh. But it still really weird that you can tell people 'yea so-and-so robbed me' & that person can go and sue like 'now ppl think I'm a thief!'

like you are!

[happypurinsu.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for the US, but the "the public needs to know!" defence can be a bit tricky in SK. Like, if a sexual predator moves to your neighbourhood, you're allowed to print out posters with information about said person's crimes and distribute it to your neighbours (you sometimes get a notification that a criminal who could be a threat moves close to you + you can check if there are criminals living nearby. Not all kinds of criminals though - primarily sex offenders, child abusers, etc.). But you're not allowed to hang the posters outside of your neighbourhood (I don't remember the exact proximity but it isn't that big, unless there's a school/gathering of children nearby), and you can't mention too identifying details online unless the media has already revealed it (and you're simply passing on/summarizing what the media reported).

It's a bit different with public figures (like Lia) because so many of the general public knows about her (or, at the very least, JYP), meaning that it would be easier to plead the "for the good of the public" defence as long as there's enough to back the claims. It gets murkier if the accuser has done things like threatening the public figure for money, in which case it could be argued that the accuser's primary aim was financial gain, thus rendering the "general public" excuse invalid - an example of this is KHJ's ex-girlfriend who could prove a lot of what he had done BUT because she asked for money outside of the settlement proceedings, KHJ was successful in getting her found guilty of defamation (of course, she did other dumb stuff, which is also contributed to her losing the case).

And of course, if the accuser cannot provide enough evidence to at least create reasonable doubt regarding the accused's innocence, meaning that the authorities believe they lied or came with misleading and/or insufficient information, then the accuser would be guilty of defamation by default (after the court has ruled it as such).

[chiives.livejournal.com]

the difference bet lia and hyunjin is pretty big. iirc the hyunjin situation was settled by both parties in private, i wonder why lia's is being dragged out like this. does it have to do with proof or lack of it? jyp is riding harder for lia than cube did for soojin (whatever happened to the soojin thing anyway?)

[happypurinsu.livejournal.com]

I would say, probably a lack of proof on both sides - by the sounds of it, A only has enough evidence to defend herself against defamation, i.e. there's enough to say that Lia did do wrong but doubt regarding whether it can be considered (severe) school violence. Hyunjin's case is different because both sides admitted wrong was committed (there was enough to back the accusations), Hyunjin apologized, and they settled.

As for Soojin, I don't think there's been a conclusion yet? The last I heard was that actress Seo Shin Ae confirmed it was Soojin, more testimony came out backing SSA and the other alleged victims, and someone from Soojin's "bully" group supposedly apologized and admitted fault to at least one of the victims. I would say that Soojin is definitely on the losing end at this point, which Cube knows.