Yulhee‘s legal representative, “There’s a good chance of winning, Choi Min-hwan‘s prostitution investigation has no effect”

The reason why broadcaster Yulhee filed a custody lawsuit against her ex-husband, FT Island’s Choi Min-hwan, has been revealed.

Yulhee‘s legal representative, Yang So-young, the head attorney of Sungin Law Firm, posted a video titled, “The real reason Yulhee started the custody lawsuit, will she be able to bring the three children?” on the YouTube channel ‘Yangdamso’ on the 7th. He explained the process by which Yulhee decided to file a lawsuit and offered advice to those who, like Yulhee, want to regain custody.

Attorney Yang stated, “(Yulhee’s) agency contacted me first. They asked if it would be possible to change the person with custody. I told them, ‘In terms of the content, it could be changed or not. But I think it would be good to try a lawsuit.’” He said, “When a request for a change in custody is filed, the court will look into whether the current situation needs to be changed. The court will naturally look into whether the children are being raised properly and whether the custodial parent is doing a good job. It will look into whether the current situation could be better if the non-custodial parent were to raise the children.” He added, “As a custodial parent, I cannot help but look at the children more diligently because I feel that I cannot avoid the court’s judgment. That is why I tend to actively encourage them to file a request for a change in custody.” Attorney Yang said, “I explained this to Yul-hee. From what I heard, there were some parts where it was decided that when deciding who would receive custody during the divorce, rather than deciding that Choi Min-hwan would continue to raise the children in the long term, Yul-hee would take the children sooner or later. I thought that there was a good chance of success. After the divorce, seeing how she negotiated visitation and was involved in raising the children, it seemed like Yul-hee was almost the custodial parent. “Since it’s not a situation where the children are completely separated, I thought there wouldn’t be a big change for the children if Yulhee is designated as the custodial parent, so I told her that we should try it because I thought we had a good chance of winning,” she said.

Yulhee recently filed an application for mediation against Choi Min-hwan regarding changes in parental rights and custody, and alimony and division of property. She also filed for a preliminary injunction regarding the designation of a temporary custodial parent and payment of child support at the same time.

Regarding the ‘Preliminary Injunction for Designation of a Temporary Custody Person’, Attorney Yang said, “It is an application to be designated as the custodial parent during the extended trial period. The court may designate a temporary custodial parent and make changes depending on whether there is a need to temporarily or preferentially change it. It decides by determining whether there is a need to increase visitation negotiations while keeping the current custodial parent as is. He explained, “Before changing or designating custody in the future, someone needs to be designated first, so this is a request to designate the custody holder.”

Regarding the investigation into Choi Min-hwan’s prostitution suspicions, he said, “I don’t think it will have a decisive impact. However, Choi Min-hwan is the primary custodian and his mother is the secondary custodian. I think the court will have to think hard about who is more suitable as the primary custodian.”

Regarding Yul-hee’s decision to give up custody and receive 0 won in property division and 0 won in child support during her divorce last year, attorney Yang said, “That’s the most regrettable part. If Yul-hee had received some legal advice, she could have claimed property division and alimony. With that amount of money, she could have sufficiently provided a home for the children. It would have been good if she had received such advice and made her decision, but it seems she didn’t realize that she had such a right. She said she never received legal advice.” He continued, “I think that‘s because Yulhee didn’t make the right judgment at the time in terms of economic situation. If there was an amount that Yulhee could file for a division of property and receive alimony, it could be seen as Yulhee‘s wrong judgment at the time, so I think things could change.”


Attorney Yang advised people like Yulhee who want to regain custody, “Once you’re designated as the custodial parent, it‘s very difficult to change it. Once the children get used to the situation, the court has no choice but to be very careful in the process of changing it. Since the custodial parent can only be changed if there’s a problem with the designation, the court is conservative and it can‘t be helped. You have to think carefully when getting a divorce.” He also said, “You may have heard that it’s advantageous to kidnap or take the children away in order to be designated as the custodial parent, but these days, the courts look at who the original primary custodial parent was rather than who was temporarily kidnapped. The court carefully considers the changes in the children‘s environment,” he emphasized.

Attorney Yang said, “I want to make sure to tell you that financial factors are not given priority when designating a custodial parent. Most of the housewives who did not have financial resources come to counseling after being told by their husbands, ”You have no money and no house, so you cannot have custody, so give it up.“ ”Financial factors are never given priority. If you do not have financial resources, you raise your children while receiving a division of property and child support. That is why you file a claim for a division of property and receive child support. If you are designated as a custodial parent, you will be given some consideration in the division of property by considering the aspect of support.“ He explained, ”Those who give up in advance because they say they do not have financial resources, please never give up. It is true that money is needed to raise children, but children grow well when they are loved and receive stable, continuous child support. Please know that this is a priority and I hope you never give up in advance,” he said.

Lastly, “Unfortunately, Yulhee received a lot of criticism from society. You must never say things like, ‘She abandoned the children,’ or ‘The non-custodial parent abandoned the children.’ How can children who hear that their mom and dad abandoned them be able to live properly? You must never do that. You must never give up custody in advance just because you don’t have the financial means or the situation isn’t right,” he said, raising his voice.

Meanwhile, Yulhee and Choi Min-hwan began dating publicly in September 2017. They had a son in May of the following year and gave birth to twin daughters in February 2020. However, they announced their divorce in December of last year, and Choi Min-hwan is currently raising the children.

In the midst of this, Yulhee revealed on her YouTube channel on the 24th of last month that Choi Min-hwan had visited an adult entertainment establishment and released a recording of a phone call. The recording contains the content of Choi Min-hwan calling an acquaintance in 2022 and asking for a karaoke reservation and a female hostess.

Choi Min-hwan’s agency FNC Entertainment stated, “It is difficult for us to know the details of a person‘s private life related to marital issues,” and “However, Choi Min-hwan feels responsible for disappointing the public and viewers, and he will be suspending all media activities, including broadcasts with his children.” With Choi Min-hwan suspending his activities, FT Island is currently promoted as a two-member system with Lee Hong-ki and Lee Jae-jin.

Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com