After the ‘MeToo craze’… ‘Director Kim Ki-duk‘s actress’ Ok-hee’s fight is ongoing [DA: Exclusive Interview]
“Life is like a blessing in disguise.”
For actress Ok-hee (pseudonym), the year 2024 will end with ‘A blessing in disguise. The greeting on her Facebook account (Ok-hee) reads, “Through a long lawsuit, I have confirmed that the misconception of those who believe that it is okay to look down on people and exploit them is wrong. I am the actor who sued film director Kim Ki-duk.”
Ok-hee ended her long fight this year with MBC‘s correction and rebuttal report regarding the media’s false report that ‘The actress was sexually assaulted by Kim Ki-duk.”After recognizing that there were problems with the MBC PD Notebook report, I started a lawsuit against the media for false reports in 2019 to correct it. Coincidentally, the MBC correction and rebuttal report that led to the decision to file a lawsuit for false reporting was the last of the lawsuits against media companies for false reporting.”
December 11th marked the 4th anniversary of director Kim Ki-duk‘s death. He passed away from complications of COVID-19 in Latvia 4 years ago on this day at the age of 59.
Director Kim Ki-duk was a master of the Korean film industry. Director Kim was a great person who had won grand prizes at the Cannes, Venice, and Berlin International Film Festivals, which are considered the top 3 film festivals in the world. Why was his end so lonely?
His decline began around the time of the ‘Me too movement’ that swept South Korea in 2018. The cultural and artistic world could not escape the wave of the ‘MeToo movement’, in which victims of sexual violence throughout society began to speak out and raise awareness of the seriousness of sexual crimes. And at the center of it all was director Kim Ki-duk.
On March 6, 2018, MBC’s ‘PD Notebook’ reported on the sexual assault of him and actor Jo Jae-hyun through the ‘Film Director Kim Ki-duk, the True Face of a Master’ episode, causing quite a stir in society. At the time, Ok-hee testified on the broadcast about the allegations of assault and sexual harassment by director Kim Ki-duk. Various testimonies poured in from him and others who had been harmed by director Kim, but the statute of limitations expired, so it ended up stopping at confirming the facts and conducting an internal investigation.
Then, in March 2019, director Kim Ki-duk filed a civil suit worth 1 billion won against the actress who had exposed the allegations of assault and sexual harassment surrounding him and MBC. However, in October 2020, the court dismissed all of Director Kim Ki-duk‘s claims. The court also ruled that Director Kim Ki-duk should pay the legal fees. Director Kim died in November of the same year after appealing the second trial.
The case was closed with Director Kim Ki-duk’s death, but Ok-hee was left with an indelible scar. He, who had only revealed assault and sexual harassment, was branded as ‘Actress A who was raped by Director Kim Ki-duk.‘Ok-hee, who recognized that the ‘PD Notebook’ report was problematic, started a lawsuit against the media for false reporting in 2019.
“I filed lawsuits with nearly 160 media outlets in Korea for five years, and I won two Supreme Court rulings. I also won many high court rulings. Because there were so many lawsuits, I met many judges and visited many courts. The number of lawyers for the media companies who participated in this lawsuit, including large law firms in Seocho-dong and individual lawyers for small and medium-sized law firms, must be enormous. The lawyers for the media companies obtained the original complaint against Kim Ki-duk and made attacks that I could not have imagined. If I had told even one lie or exaggeration during the Kim Ki-duk case, it would have all been revealed during the legal battle of the media company lawsuit. I will ignore the unfair criticism that I hear late, as it is the voice of someone’s twisted heart.”
Ok-hee began the lawsuit against the media company for false reporting with a desperate heart, and Director Kim Ki-duk, who could not accept the loss, began an appeal in the second trial. However, he died suddenly in a faraway country.
Director Kim Ki-duk’s sudden death was a shock to Ok-hee as well. After Director Kim‘s death, the lawsuit that the bereaved family continued ended in Ok-hee’s complete victory, but Ok-hee‘s heart was so empty that she could not receive an apology from anyone.
“Someone asked me what to do about the anger over the fact that the deceased died and she could not even receive an apology. I had a strange experience. After hearing the news of his death, my feelings for Kim Ki-duk seemed to have disappeared like smoke. My feelings for Kim Ki-duk did not work at all. This was not something I worked hard for. I also thought that death was the end of a chapter in life.”
Ok-hee’s wounds remained as scars forever. However, her fight sounded an alarm in the film industry, as well as in the cultural and artistic world. At the same time, issues that had not been completely resolved also surfaced.
“At the time, there was tremendous support for the Me Too movement, but soon after, there was also great backlash against the Me Too movement. Some politicians seemed to use it as a tool to divide people, and some used it as a tool to make their names known by spewing hateful remarks out of resentment. I also regret that MeToo was once a fad. I think it is time for a balanced discussion. We must not let it be used as a tool to divide people.”
As Ok-hee said, the MeToo craze swept through society so provocatively that it suddenly disappeared. Even now, somewhere in this society, someone may be suffering from a sexual crime by a person in power and sitting there, shedding tears of blood alone. The reason MeToo should not be consumed as a simple issue is because it is an ongoing issue.
“The act of exploiting others by using one’s power, and the problem of power relations, occurs everywhere. The world calls this ‘gapjil’, and MeToo is the part that separates it from the sex-related part. “I think we need to have another discussion that excludes those who occasionally try to use other people’s pain as a stepping stone for personal fame and fortune, so that politics and ideology do not interfere.”
Meanwhile, attorney Jeong Hoe-seok (Onjo Law Firm), who was most closely involved in Ok-hee’s long journey of litigation with the media, pointed out that despite the fact that a correction was made to the facts of the damage, secondary harm is still continuing, such as misunderstanding Ok-hee’s facts of damage in the comments, due to distorted views that blindly support the perpetrator due to his fame.
Reporter Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com misty82@donga.com
For actress Ok-hee (pseudonym), the year 2024 will end with ‘A blessing in disguise. The greeting on her Facebook account (Ok-hee) reads, “Through a long lawsuit, I have confirmed that the misconception of those who believe that it is okay to look down on people and exploit them is wrong. I am the actor who sued film director Kim Ki-duk.”
Ok-hee ended her long fight this year with MBC‘s correction and rebuttal report regarding the media’s false report that ‘The actress was sexually assaulted by Kim Ki-duk.”After recognizing that there were problems with the MBC PD Notebook report, I started a lawsuit against the media for false reports in 2019 to correct it. Coincidentally, the MBC correction and rebuttal report that led to the decision to file a lawsuit for false reporting was the last of the lawsuits against media companies for false reporting.”
December 11th marked the 4th anniversary of director Kim Ki-duk‘s death. He passed away from complications of COVID-19 in Latvia 4 years ago on this day at the age of 59.
Director Kim Ki-duk was a master of the Korean film industry. Director Kim was a great person who had won grand prizes at the Cannes, Venice, and Berlin International Film Festivals, which are considered the top 3 film festivals in the world. Why was his end so lonely?
Photo = MBC
His decline began around the time of the ‘Me too movement’ that swept South Korea in 2018. The cultural and artistic world could not escape the wave of the ‘MeToo movement’, in which victims of sexual violence throughout society began to speak out and raise awareness of the seriousness of sexual crimes. And at the center of it all was director Kim Ki-duk.
On March 6, 2018, MBC’s ‘PD Notebook’ reported on the sexual assault of him and actor Jo Jae-hyun through the ‘Film Director Kim Ki-duk, the True Face of a Master’ episode, causing quite a stir in society. At the time, Ok-hee testified on the broadcast about the allegations of assault and sexual harassment by director Kim Ki-duk. Various testimonies poured in from him and others who had been harmed by director Kim, but the statute of limitations expired, so it ended up stopping at confirming the facts and conducting an internal investigation.
Then, in March 2019, director Kim Ki-duk filed a civil suit worth 1 billion won against the actress who had exposed the allegations of assault and sexual harassment surrounding him and MBC. However, in October 2020, the court dismissed all of Director Kim Ki-duk‘s claims. The court also ruled that Director Kim Ki-duk should pay the legal fees. Director Kim died in November of the same year after appealing the second trial.
The case was closed with Director Kim Ki-duk’s death, but Ok-hee was left with an indelible scar. He, who had only revealed assault and sexual harassment, was branded as ‘Actress A who was raped by Director Kim Ki-duk.‘Ok-hee, who recognized that the ‘PD Notebook’ report was problematic, started a lawsuit against the media for false reporting in 2019.
“I filed lawsuits with nearly 160 media outlets in Korea for five years, and I won two Supreme Court rulings. I also won many high court rulings. Because there were so many lawsuits, I met many judges and visited many courts. The number of lawyers for the media companies who participated in this lawsuit, including large law firms in Seocho-dong and individual lawyers for small and medium-sized law firms, must be enormous. The lawyers for the media companies obtained the original complaint against Kim Ki-duk and made attacks that I could not have imagined. If I had told even one lie or exaggeration during the Kim Ki-duk case, it would have all been revealed during the legal battle of the media company lawsuit. I will ignore the unfair criticism that I hear late, as it is the voice of someone’s twisted heart.”
Ok-hee began the lawsuit against the media company for false reporting with a desperate heart, and Director Kim Ki-duk, who could not accept the loss, began an appeal in the second trial. However, he died suddenly in a faraway country.
Director Kim Ki-duk’s sudden death was a shock to Ok-hee as well. After Director Kim‘s death, the lawsuit that the bereaved family continued ended in Ok-hee’s complete victory, but Ok-hee‘s heart was so empty that she could not receive an apology from anyone.
“Someone asked me what to do about the anger over the fact that the deceased died and she could not even receive an apology. I had a strange experience. After hearing the news of his death, my feelings for Kim Ki-duk seemed to have disappeared like smoke. My feelings for Kim Ki-duk did not work at all. This was not something I worked hard for. I also thought that death was the end of a chapter in life.”
Ok-hee’s wounds remained as scars forever. However, her fight sounded an alarm in the film industry, as well as in the cultural and artistic world. At the same time, issues that had not been completely resolved also surfaced.
“At the time, there was tremendous support for the Me Too movement, but soon after, there was also great backlash against the Me Too movement. Some politicians seemed to use it as a tool to divide people, and some used it as a tool to make their names known by spewing hateful remarks out of resentment. I also regret that MeToo was once a fad. I think it is time for a balanced discussion. We must not let it be used as a tool to divide people.”
As Ok-hee said, the MeToo craze swept through society so provocatively that it suddenly disappeared. Even now, somewhere in this society, someone may be suffering from a sexual crime by a person in power and sitting there, shedding tears of blood alone. The reason MeToo should not be consumed as a simple issue is because it is an ongoing issue.
“The act of exploiting others by using one’s power, and the problem of power relations, occurs everywhere. The world calls this ‘gapjil’, and MeToo is the part that separates it from the sex-related part. “I think we need to have another discussion that excludes those who occasionally try to use other people’s pain as a stepping stone for personal fame and fortune, so that politics and ideology do not interfere.”
Meanwhile, attorney Jeong Hoe-seok (Onjo Law Firm), who was most closely involved in Ok-hee’s long journey of litigation with the media, pointed out that despite the fact that a correction was made to the facts of the damage, secondary harm is still continuing, such as misunderstanding Ok-hee’s facts of damage in the comments, due to distorted views that blindly support the perpetrator due to his fame.
Reporter Lee Seul-bi, Donga.com misty82@donga.com
