Famous Korean actor Lee Seung Gi is finding himself in hot water after a slew of news was released regarding the stock manipulation case involving his father-in-law, Im Young Gyu.
Lee Seung Gi is under fire and facing criticism not only because of the scandal but mainly for his statement released alongside his entertainment company BIG PLANET MADE Entertainment. After the news was shortly revealed that the Supreme Court retracted their previous verdict and found Lee Seung Gi’s father-in-law and his accomplices indeed guilty of high stock price manipulation, Lee Seung Gi stated the following:
“We sincerely ask you to leave the family alone. Mr. Lee Seung Gi is now doing his best at being the head of the household, father, husband, and son-in-law. His mother and father-in-law have become grandparents. This incident took place before Mr. Lee Seung Gi got married, and it is something their family members need to resolve. We once again are writing to let you know that even stricter legal measures will be taken if we see fake news or malicious comments against Mr. Lee Seung Gi or his family.”
Although it seems like another run-of-the-mill statement requesting respect and privacy of the celebrity in question, this time around netizens have problems not only the timing but the power abuse of Lee Seung Gi’s celebrity status.
Netizens stated, “What about the victims of the stock manipulation? Is there no apology for them?” and “So we can’t talk about the family’s wrongdoings because they are now related to Lee Seung Gi?” as well as “The first article came out about 2 hours ago and they really whipped up this statement in a couple of hours lol they were very prepared to protect themselves.”
According to legal reports on June 16th, Lee Seung Gi’s father-in-law and his three accomplices were indicted for alleged stock price manipulation under the Capital Markets Act and were caught after allegedly garnering about 2.3 billion KRW by artificially inflating their public company’s stocks for two years between the time of November 2014 to February 2016.
The group appealed at the appellate court and was found not guilty until as of yesterday when the Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case back to the appellate courthouse.
The Court commented, “Appellate court erroneously held that the defendants were not guilty of breaking the Capital Markets Act without considering the totality of circumstances of how they acquired the funds. The falsely recorded stocks roughly amount to 1.56% of total stocks. This is over the filing threshold of 1%.”
Now, fans are angry with Lee Seung Gi for releasing the following statements and some are even saying they hope he never returns to the spotlight. What do you think of the situation? Is it fair for Lee Seung Gi to bare the burden of his father-in-law’s wrongdoings – even if he was aware or benefitted from it? Do you think he should issue an apology? Stay tuned for more updates and share your thoughts in the comments below!
>> Lee Seung Gi’s Name Dragged into Ex-Father-in-Law Lim Young Gyu’s Financial Scandal
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Leave him alone . It is not his fault .
Get a life 🤬🤬.
Seunggi’s been such an innocent all his life. He’s a good man with a kind heart and definitely empathises with the victims. But his father-in-law is now family and he needs to protect his wife & baby too. Cut him some slack. He did not commit the crime. Go after his fil and leave him alone. I admire his courage to stand firm for his loved ones. They are truly fortunate to have him in their lives.
He’s been in the spotlight for YEARS. He knew what the public would think when he married into this family. It’s not his fault, but when you hitch your star to a crime family, why be shocked when people view YOU differently? He chose this over his career now he and his kid will face consequences. Is it fair? No, but Korean society is still VERY conservative. To paint him as unaware proves he thought his celebrity status would make him immune to Korean backlash. If anything this makes him seem arrogant.