According to the media, Korean household appliance brand Cuckoo, widely known for its electric rice cooker reputation, has sued Kim Soo Hyun, demanding compensation for nearly 2.8 billion won and has approved a temporary request to confiscate the actor's assets.
Recent investigations show that Cuckoo Electronics, a key subsidiary of Cuckoo Holdings Group, responsible for more than 90% of the group's revenue, filed a request for temporary confiscation of Kim Soo Hyun's assets on April 24.
The demand is aimed at around 100 million won in Kim Soo Hyun's personal assets, including bank deposits and loans. The Seoul Eastern District Court approved the request on May 20.
On May 2, Cuckoo Electronics stepped up legal efforts by filing a separate damages lawsuit worth 850 million won against Kim Soo Hyun.
The actor has been a advertising model for Cuckoo for more than 10 years, maintaining a close partnership with the company. However, the public's backlash surrounding his past relationship with the late actor Kim Sae Ron broke out in March this year, leading to legal complaints about violating advertising contracts.
On the same day, Cuckoo Homesys (a rental service joint venture company) and another subsidiary of Cuckoo Holdings filed a supplementary lawsuit against Kim Soo Hyun and his management company - Gold Medalist.
The total compensation claim in this lawsuit is 2.03 billion won. The lawsuit has been transferred to the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Court No. 22 and is being handled separately with a claim for compensation of 850 million won.
Cuckoo Homesys also filed a temporary confiscation request of 50 million won against Gold Medalist on May 1. The request was approved by the Seoul Eastern District Court on May 27.
In another case, a cosmetics company filed a 501 million won damage claim against Kim Soo Hyun and Gold Medalist on April 25.
In addition, on May 8, cosmetic medical equipment manufacturing company Classys was approved for freezing Kim Soo Hyun's real estate assets, a luxury apartment, as the company was suing the actor for violating an advertising contract and demanding 3 billion won in damages.
However, the lawsuits of companies and brands against Kim Soo Hyun are controversial.
Especially in Cuckoo's case, his decades-long relationship with the brand has been completely broken because of the ongoing complicated litigations.
Many opinions say that this could be Cuckoo's mistake in suing Kim Soo Hyun while his scandal is still unknown.
On the other hand, Kim Soo Hyun is gradually turning the situation around and is supported by the public, as the family of Kim Sae Ron and YouTuber Kim Se Ui (Garosero) is exposed with fake evidence.
