Kim Soo Hyun has denied claims that he failed to pay court fees in his high-profile defamation lawsuit, calling the reports “completely false.”
In civil cases, plaintiffs must pay a filing fee based on the lawsuit’s value. If the amount claimed is under 10 million KRW ($7,050), the fee is 0.5%. For claims between 10 million and 1 billion KRW ($705,000), the rate is 0.45% plus an additional 5,000 KRW ($3.53). The fee increases by 1.5 times for appeals and doubles for Supreme Court cases. Plaintiffs must also pay a delivery fee, which covers mailing court documents. As Kim Soo Hyun’s lawsuit is reportedly worth 12 billion won ($8.4 million), the combined fees are estimated to be around 38 million won ($27,o00).
Reports indicate Kim’s legal team filed a request to extend the correction deadline on April 16th. Some interpreted this as a move to postpone the payment of the fees. In such requests, the plaintiff must specify the shortest possible extension period. Missing this deadline could result in the court rejecting the case altogether. This has fueled speculation that Kim may be facing financial difficulties in paying the fees needed to file the lawsuit.
However, law firm LKB & Partners told YTN Star, “The filing and delivery fees have been fully paid. The reports claiming non-payment are false,” on April 17th.
Earlier that day, News1 reported that the Seoul Central District Court had issued a correction order to Kim on April 2nd regarding the lawsuit fees.
According to the outlet, the lawsuit filed with the court listed the amount as 11 billion KRW ($7.8 million), while Kim had announced he was suing for 12 billion KRW ($8.4 million) in damages. The court reportedly ordered him to pay the litigation fees based on the full 12 billion KRW.
Kim’s side clarified, “The lawsuit was for 12 billion KRW from the start.” They added that the request to extend the correction period was only to update the addresses of the defendants.
Previously, Kim Sae Ron’s family and Garosero Research Institute’s Kim Se Ui claimed that Kim Soo Hyun had been in a relationship with the late actress when she was a minor. Kim held an emergency press conference on March 31st to deny all allegations and announced plans for legal action.
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