Former The Boyz member Ju Haknyeon has received a defamation case in opposition to an leisure reporter who linked him to prostitution. A South Korean court docket has ordered the journalist to pay 200 million received (round $140,000) in damages, ruling that the claims had been revealed with out sufficient proof to help them. The decision, delivered by the Seoul Central District Courtroom’s Civil Division 25 on October 23, comes greater than a 12 months after the allegations price Haknyeon his place within the Ok-pop group, The Boyz and led to the termination of his contract with the company One Hundred.
Courtroom finds reporter did not confirm allegations
In keeping with authorized sources cited by Yonhap Information, Choose Kwon Ki Man dominated that reporter Choi had defamed Ju Haknyeon by claiming that the singer had paid for a sexual association with a Japanese grownup movie actress and later admitted to it. The court docket discovered that the claims had been false and that the reporter had not carried out sufficient to confirm them earlier than publishing the story.
The choose questioned how Choi had reached that conclusion, saying the knowledge gathered through the reporting course of was not sufficient to determine that prostitution had taken place. The court docket additionally confused that the reporter ought to have taken better care earlier than publishing allegations that might critically harm the singer’s repute. “It’s tough to conclude that Ju engaged in prostitution primarily based solely on what Choi confirmed through the reporting course of,” the court docket mentioned, pointing to the shortage of proof to help the declare.
Choi argued that the report was primarily based on conversations with One Hundred CEO Cha Ga Received and that there have been affordable grounds to consider the allegations had been true. Nevertheless, the court docket didn’t settle for this as ample justification for publishing the claims as reality. The choose famous that Choi “merely offered the article draft and sought affirmation” with out establishing whether or not there was concrete proof of prostitution or inspecting what that proof may be.
The court docket additionally took into consideration statements from individuals who attended the gathering, who mentioned no cash had been exchanged for sexual acts. The lady concerned, a businesswoman and influencer with greater than 2.8 million followers, had additionally denied the allegations by means of her company. Contemplating these accounts and the circumstances of these concerned, the court docket mentioned it was “tough to readily settle for” that both occasion would have engaged in such conduct, given their respective positions.
How allegations led to his exit from THE BOYZ
The controversy started in June 2025, when Japanese tabloid Shukan Bunshun revealed pictures of Ju Haknyeon with Asuka Kirara, a former grownup video actor, at a bar in Tokyo. South Korean outlet TenAsia later alleged that the assembly concerned a paid sexual association, citing trade insiders. He denied the claims, however the harm to his profession quickly adopted. He was faraway from his Ok-pop group, and his company terminated his unique contract on June 18, 2025, citing a clause associated to conduct that might hurt an artist’s dignity.
Haknyeon later filed a 1-billion-won damages lawsuit in opposition to the reporter. On July 2, 2025, Seoul Gangnam Police Station cleared him of the prostitution allegations, citing a scarcity of proof.
The ruling is a win for Ju Haknyeon, however his authorized battle together with his former company is way from over. The company has sought round 8 billion received in penalties and damages, whereas Ju has accused it of pressuring him into signing a termination settlement and leaking data to the media to drive him out. In July 2026, a court docket dismissed the company’s declare for damages, discovering no legitimate grounds for terminating his contract.