[Official] Actress Hwang Jung-eum comments on provisional seizure of approximately 200 million yen real estate

Actress Hwang Jung-eum has reportedly been hit with a provisional real estate seizure worth 1.8 billion won (approximately 180 million yen) from the company of her ex-husband, former professional golfer and entrepreneur Lee Young-dong, who is in the midst of divorce proceedings.

　On the 23rd (today), Hwang Jung-eum's agency, Y.ONE Entertainment, stated that the matter “arose in the process of divorce proceedings” and that the matter "will be resolved amicably soon.”

　A Korean media outlet confirmed that the steel processing and sales company ’Koam Koa', operated by Lee Yong-dong, filed a lawsuit for the return of a loan of 157 million won with the District Court of Western Seoul this year. The company also filed an additional request for provisional seizure of two of the 13 units of an urban living house (13 households) in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, owned by Hwang Jung-eum on April 17th. The trial court cited Lee Yong-dong's request for provisional foreclosure on April 30th.

　In addition to Mr. Lee Yong-dong's company, Mr. A also requested provisional foreclosure of KRW 100 million for this building owned by Hwang Jung-eum. The court also cited Mr. A's request for provisional foreclosure. As a result, Hwang Jung-eum is no longer free to lease or sell the building at will.

　The building for which the provisional foreclosure was cited was purchased by Hwang Jung-eum in May 2013 for 1.87 billion won ($187 million).

　She married Lee Yong-dong and Mr. Lee in 2016. They divorced once and got back together, but in 2024, she filed another divorce suit against Mr. Lee Yong-dong, alleging that he cheated on her.

　During such divorce proceedings, Hwang Jung-eum's alleged embezzlement came to light. Around the beginning of 2022, she received 700 million won (approximately 70 million yen) of the funds loaned by her entertainment agency in the name of provisional payment and invested it in cryptocurrency. Including this, he was indicted at home on suspicion of embezzling more than 4.34 billion won ($434 million) of the office's money by December 2022.

　The entertainment agency affected is a family corporation in which Hwang Jung-eum owns 100% of the shares. She invested 4.2 billion won (approx. 420 million yen) of the embezzled amount in cryptocurrency, and admitted the fact of the indictment at the trial on this day.

　At the trial, Hwang Jung-eum's defense attorney explained, "The defendant wanted to expand her firm and decided to invest in coins, and since the corporation could not hold the coins, she temporarily invested them in her own name, but this incident led her to commit the crime.

　He added, "I sold the coins, repaid a portion of the damage, and sold real estate to repay the rest, and I hope you will consider my motive for the crime."

　Hwang Jung-eum also explained through her agency, "When I wanted to expand my office, an acquaintance suggested that I invest in coins to fatten up the company's capital, so I decided to jump into coin investments, which I was unfamiliar with. Although the funds were in the name of the office, I made an immature decision because they were earnings earned from my activities. Although I suffered a loss from the coin investment, I am still fortunate that I do not have any third-party damage because I own 100% of the company's shares, there are no other entertainers in the company, and there are no other creditors other than the banks that have secured collateral."