Disney+ puts Kim Soo Hyun's ”Knock Off” on hold

Disney+ took a cautious stance on the release of 'Knock Off', starring actor Kim Soo Hyun.

　On the 23rd, an open house event was held at the Walt Disney Company Korea headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul.

　Choi Young-woo, local content director of Walt Disney Company Korea, said, "Disney+'s official position is that after careful internal deliberation, they have put their release plan on hold, so it is difficult to talk about anything else. Disney+ has no other updated information."

　The company also gave this answer to the penalty fee issue.

　Knockoff, starring Kim Soo Hyun, is a Disney+ original series that tells the story of a man whose life is uprooted by the Korean currency crisis and who goes from being an ordinary office worker to the king of the global knockoff market. However, the possibility of its release became uncertain after allegations related to Kim Soo Hyun surfaced.

　Earlier, the Garosero Institute side claimed that the late Kim Sae-ron had been in a relationship with Kim Soo Hyun since she was a minor, and that she had been under psychological strain ever since her agency, Gold Medalist, sent a certified letter demanding that he repay 700 million dollars. Kim Soo-hyun's side has consistently maintained the position that there is no basis in fact immediately after the relevant claims were made. When Kim Soo Hyun's side denied the allegations, the bereaved family released a series of documents containing information on Kim Soo Hyun's personal life through Garosero Institute as relevant evidence. In the end, the agency filed charges against Garosero Institute, the bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron, and Mr. A, who claimed to be her aunt, for violation of the Special Law on Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (distribution of materials taken using cameras, etc.) and other related charges.

　In response to these successive revelations, Kim Soo Hyun held an emergency press conference and confided that the reason she denied dating the late Kim Sae-ron was to protect tvN's “Queen of Tears” and that she "made a choice as a star Kim Soo Hyun. He also said that the late Kim Soo Hyun's bereaved family materials, currently released through Garosero Institute, were manipulated, and sobbed, "If he were deceased, he would not have made a mistake in age difference with me. He added that he had submitted such materials to the investigative agency."

　Attorney Kim Jong-bok explained, “Actor Kim Soo Hyun and Gold Medalists decided to file criminal charges and civil lawsuits against the parties involved to clarify the facts,” and "requested our legal firm to do so. The legal firm submitted a complaint against the bereaved family, the self-proclaimed aunt, and the operator of Garosero Institute for violation of the Act on the Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection, and for defamation of character, attaching as evidence the expert testimony that Kim Soo Hyun had mentioned," he continued. "The complaint against these people for damages totaling 12 billion won was also submitted to the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors Office," he added.

　Kim Soo Hyun's side also filed a complaint with the investigative agency for defamation under the Information and Communication Network Act and insult under the Penal Code for malicious comments toward Kim Soo-hyun, and filed an additional complaint and charges against Kim Sae-hwi for violation of the stalking punishment law.