“I’ll file a complaint even if I have to sell my house”: Kim Bu-seon wins partial victory in lawsuit over “3 million won a month in free support”

[Financial News] Actor Kim Bu-seon has won a partial victory in a loan-repayment lawsuit in the 200-million-won range against the family of a deceased acquaintance. Kim Bu-seon said the court had accepted only the debt acknowledged from the outset, and also stated a position on the first-instance ruling and an intention to file a complaint against the family.
On the 6th, Kim Bu-seon posted a message titled “A Notice to Journalists” on social media (SNS), reporting the outcome of the first-instance ruling in the civil lawsuit, handed down on the 30th of last month. On the 10th, Kim Bu-seon also shared a link to an article about the ruling, writing, “They edited the KakaoTalk messages the deceased and I exchanged while alive, selecting only some parts favorable to them, and posted them publicly in full, damaging my social standing. For months, they have been posting material involving disclosure of private information, insult, and so on.” Kim Bu-seon added, “I should file a complaint, even if I have to sell my house.”
According to Kim Bu-seon, the deceased’s family sought a total of 240,030,000 won in this lawsuit. The court, however, ordered Kim Bu-seon to pay only the principal of 70 million won that Kim Bu-seon acknowledged as a debt and 32,850,000 won in delay damages, dismissing all the remaining claims. The court ruled that the plaintiffs would bear 70% of the legal costs and Kim Bu-seon 30%.
“I regard this first-instance ruling as a de facto victory that upheld my position,” Kim Bu-seon said. “It is a valuable result, akin to a complete victory, in that all the additional amounts sought by the plaintiffs beyond the debt I acknowledged from the outset were dismissed.” Kim Bu-seon added that the money deposited with the court had been recovered, the heirs had been repaid in full for the principal and delay damages ordered in the ruling, and the provisional attachment had also been lifted.
Kim Bu-seon explained that after learning of the deceased’s death, Kim Bu-seon met the family at home and first told them about the 70 million won debt. “It was to honor my promise to the deceased and fulfill my responsibility,” Kim Bu-seon said. “Afterward, I asked for the contact information of the deceased’s parents, who were the heirs, and requested a meeting to discuss repayment, but it did not happen.”
Kim Bu-seon continued, “The civil lawsuit, provisional attachment, and media coverage followed, and I had to endure being portrayed as someone who borrowed money and had no intention of paying it back.” Kim Bu-seon lamented that during this process, “criticism, insults, and even sexually demeaning remarks poured out before the specific facts had been fully made known.”
Kim Bu-seon, who described the period as painful, said, “It was a devastating and difficult time for me as a citizen first and an actor second.” Kim Bu-seon urged the media, “Please clearly distinguish in your reporting between the amount claimed by the plaintiffs and the amount actually recognized by the court. Please compare previous reports with the ruling, correct anything that is inaccurate, and also review my position and the related materials.”
Earlier, the deceased’s family filed a lawsuit against Kim Bu-seon seeking repayment of loans. The family argued that the principal amount the deceased sent Kim Bu-seon from 2013 to 2015 totaled 199.74 million won and that a substantial portion of it should be repaid.
Kim Bu-seon acknowledged borrowing 80 million won from the deceased but claimed that 10 million won had already been repaid. Kim Bu-seon also said there was no obligation to repay the 3 million won the deceased sent each month because it was gratuitous support. The family countered, “The two were not romantic partners, but merely acquaintances, so it is difficult to accept the claim that the money was given without any agreement to repay it.”
[email protected] Kim Hee-sun Reporter