For less than a year, the infamous YouTube channel Sojang has been hit with everything from criticism to takedowns to legal action — and the list of idols suing the creator continues to grow.
35-year-old Park, the woman behind Sojang (identified only by her surname), gained widespread notoriety after building her platform on negative content and malicious rumors about K-Pop idols and other Korean celebrities. Despite facing backlash, however, Park’s channel continued to thrive, reportedly earning her over ₩250 million KRW (about $ 187,000 USD) in revenue. Given her profits, it’s no surprise that numerous idols are taking a stand and pressing charges against Sojang for defamation and insult.
So far, the following stars have taken the inflammatory channel to court over the past few months alone.
1. aespa
In September 2024, Korean media reported that all four members of aespa would be suing Sojang. SM Entertainment revealed that they had filed the lawsuit on the group’s behalf in April 2024, with the first trial held on September 2.
In their suit, SM Entertainment claimed that Park’s channel had posted multiple defamatory videos about aespa’s Karina, Winter, Giselle, and Ningning over the years, as well as insulting content disparaging the idols’ looks.
2. EXO’s Suho
Along with aespa, EXO’s leader Suho is also a plaintiff in SM Entertainment’s legal proceedings against Sojang.
Unfortunately, Park and her legal team have repeatedly claimed no wrongdoing. At aespa and Suho’s hearing on September 2 at Incheon District Court, they stated that while Sojang admits to posting the content, they do not believe her “opinions” constitute legal defamation or obstruction of business.
3. BTS’s V and Jungkook
BTS members V and Jungkook joined the legal fight against Sojang a month prior in March 2024, filing a lawsuit claiming damages of approximately 90 million KRW. The first trial for the case was later scheduled for August 23, 2024, at the Seoul Western District Court.
Park is just one of the many people BIGHIT MUSIC has reportedly filed complaints and brought criminal charges against over the years, but her case may be the highest profile of all. In a statement regarding the suit, a BIGHIT MUSIC representative stated they were taking action against Sojang for spreading “false facts and hot issues” about the members, alongside making a profit off of the content.
Despite that, BTS’s case is another in which Park has refuted the accusations of defamation, much to the shock of netizens. The channel’s representative again claimed that while Sojang did produce the videos, sharing content that is “just opinion… for the public interest” is neither a crime nor an infringement on V and Jungkook’s personal rights.
BTS’s Jungkook And V Sue Malicious YouTuber “Sojang”
4. Kang Daniel
In May 2024, Park made headlines when she was potted fleeing her first trial for defamation alleged by Kang Daniel while wearing a wig and glasses as a disguise — the first time Korean media had managed to capture photos of her.
In particular, Sojang was pulled up for a video titled “The dirty private life of national boyfriend actors and idols,” uploaded in June 2022. It appears that Park has never denied uploading any of the videos she has been sued for, admitting to posting the content in question at her May trial.
Of course, she also claimed that she did not know the information she was sharing in her videos was false, and therefore did not commit defamation or slander with any criminal intent.
Malicious YouTuber Sojang Denies Charges Of Slander In Court
5. IVE’s Jang Wonyoung
IVE member Wonyoung set a precedent in October 2023 when she and Starship Entertainment first filed a lawsuit for damages against Park and criminal charges. The civil suit sought 100 million KRW in compensation for the false and insulting content Sojang had shared about Wonyoung.
Initially, Wonyoung’s legal team struggled to file the complaint as Park’s real identity was not public information. Determined to seek justice, they then applied to the US court to obtain Sojang’s account information directly from Google, getting her channel taken down in the process.
Thankfully, in January 2024, the Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Wonyoung, ordering Park to pay the full 100 million KRW plus interest. Park, who announced in February that she would be refusing to pay the damages, later had her assets partially seized. As of September 2024, Wonyoung and Starship Entertainment are still continuing their legal battle against Sojang.
IVE’s Jang Wonyoung Wins Lawsuit Against Former YouTuber Sojang
Over the years, it has been reported that numerous idols may have pressed charges against Park. For example, after ATEEZ’s company KQ Entertainment announced that they had filed a lawsuit against a YouTube creator back in August 2022, media outlet Wikitree stated that the accused was none other than Sojang.
Given how many stars Sojang has posted malicious or unfounded content since the channel’s inception, the list is only likely to grow from here.
Source: Newsen
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