A court in South Korea has ruled that the former agency of actor Kim Ji Soo, who left the KBS drama River Where the Moon Rises amid allegations of school violence, must compensate the drama production company approximately 1.42 billion won.
On the morning of July 25, the 31st Civil Agreement Division of the Seoul Central District Court ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in a damages lawsuit filed by the drama production company Victory Contents against actor Ji Soo's former agency, KeyEast. The court ruled, "The defendant (KeyEast) must pay 1.42 billion won to the plaintiff (Victory Contents)."
Ji Soo originally starred as the male lead in the KBS 2TV drama River Where the Moon Rises, which was airing in 2021. But, the actor was embroiled in allegations of school violence when the drama had only aired its first six episodes. Ji Soo admitted to some of the allegations and voluntarily withdrew from the K-drama's production.
At that time, River Where the Moon Rises had completed filming up to episode 18 out of 20 with Ji Soo as the lead, and the first six episodes had also been aired. The production company replaced him with actor Na In Woo from episode 7 onwards, and even re-filmed episodes 1 to 6 that had already aired after the show got back on track.
Subsequently, Victory Contents filed a lawsuit against KeyEast, demanding compensation of 3.53 billion won for additional production costs due to re-filming.
Meanwhile, Ji Soo recently apologized to the person who initially raised the allegations of school violence, cleared up the misunderstandings, and said, "Rumors have been widely circulated and treated as facts about things I did not do."