Park Seo Joon has corrected reports claiming he filed a massive 6 billion won lawsuit against a small crab restaurant. He clarified that the actual claim was for 60 million won (44,000 USD), not 6 billion (4.4 million USD), and stressed that the company’s actions were malicious.
An official from his agency, Awesome ENT, explained to Dispatch on July 3,
Considering Park Seo Joon’s advertising model fee, the expected damages amount to 6 billion won, but given the defendant’s business scale and other circumstances, the actual claim filed was 60 million won.
Earlier, a media outlet reported that Park sued the restaurant for 6 billion won and received only a partial judgment of 5 million won. The report sparked backlash, with some accusing the actor of ruining a self-employed business owner.
The dispute dates back to Park Seo Joon’s 2018 hit drama What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?. The restaurant was the filming location for a popular soy sauce marinated crab scene. Since 2019, the restaurant has used scenes and photos from the drama for advertising without permission. The restaurant owner decorated the interior and exterior with banners and promoted itself online as “the crab place Park Seo Jon fell in love with.”
His side said they asked the restaurant multiple times to stop using his image for ads. Despite repeated requests and even certified mail, the restaurant continued the promotions for six years.
Since 2019, we have made multiple requests to stop the advertisements, but they kept taking down and then reposting the portal site search ads and banners, and later continued their malicious actions by not even responding to our requests to take them down. This is why the lawsuit was filed.
On July 2, the Seoul Eastern District Court ruled in Park Seo Joon’s favor, ordering the restaurant owner to pay him 5 million won in damages.
The actor’s agency also announced that they will take strong action against malicious comments and false rumors, saying,
We have confirmed that secondary harm, including malicious ridicule and slander about the content of a legitimate ruling, is ongoing. We will respond to any acts that infringe on our actor’s portrait rights and personal rights without leniency or settlement.
On the work front, Park Seo Joon will return to the romance genre with drama, Waiting for Gyeong-Do, opposite Won Ji An. The drama is set to air on JTBC in late 2025.