WINNER’s Mino is facing more challenges as he deals with ongoing issues from his military service negligence, and now another past controversy has emerged.
It has recently come to light that the WINNER member is also entangled in a lawsuit related to the sale of a painting. He is also under investigation for skipping work and manipulating attendance records during his alternative service.
On January 24, A buyer (hereafter referred to as A) revealed on JTBC’s “Scandal Supervisor” that they purchased a painting titled “I Thought” by Song Minho at his solo exhibition in December 2022 for 25 million won.
However, he never received the artwork despite making payments in three installments. The gallery cited Mino’s overseas exhibition tour as the reason for the delay. They later claimed that the artist had changed his mind about selling the painting.
When buyer A protested and pointed out that the price had been agreed upon by the K-pop star and the gallery. Surprisingly, it turned out that the painting was actually reserved for a famous female singer.
Mino’s team quickly denied any wrongdoing stating that the painting was never sold to Yang Hyun Suk. They revealed that they never intended to sell it in the first place.” The team also claimed that the gallery had made a reservation for the sale without getting Mino’s consent.
The representative from the gallery blamed the mistake on an inexperienced curator. They raised concerns about the buyer’s identity, stating that it should have been verified to prevent potential resale.
The dispute escalated into a civil lawsuit, with buyer A’s side arguing that a valid sale had taken place since the curator provided the artwork’s price and deposit details, and the payment was made. In response, the gallery countered that the artworks on display were not officially for sale, as they couldn’t obtain Mino’s permission due to his military enlistment.
The court initially ruled in favor of the buyer and ordered the gallery to deliver the artwork or pay 25 million won if delivery was not possible. However, A sought additional compensation. He is demanding a settlement of 40 million won, which included attorney fees, along with the artwork. The gallery rejected this demand, deeming it “unreasonable”.
As his undelivered painting lawsuit drags on, the K-pop idol is also facing a separate police investigation for allegedly violating the Military Service Act. Mino, who completed his mandatory service as a social worker from March 2023 to December 2024, has been accused of falsifying attendance records and other forms of poor service.
However, in a recent police questioning on January 23, Mino denied the allegations and stated that he had fulfilled his military duties lawfully.
