Kim Soo Hyun loses millions in assets to home appliance brand after luxury apartment seizure; fails to pay damages

Indian Express

14-06-2025

Kim Soo Hyun's legal trouble isn't slowing down anytime soon. After losing one of his four luxury apartments to skincare company CLASSYS, the K-drama actor has now reportedly lost millions worth of assets to another advertiser. Cuckoo, a popular home appliance brand in South Korea, dropped him as brand ambassador after his dating controversy with late actor Kim Sae Ron gained traction. He had worked as their exclusive model for over a decade and was recently signed to represent their Chinese subsidiary.
The lawsuit was filed by the company's electronic sector, which brings in over 90% of Holdings' revenue. On April 24, they filed a request to freeze about 100 million KRW (roughly $73,500 USD) worth of Kim's personal assets, including his bank accounts and loans, and the paperwork was approved on May 20, according to K-media outlet New Daily.
Also read: Kim Soo Hyun's loses luxury apartment as he fails to pay penalty fee, a day after winning court order to seize Kim Se Ui's properties
Earlier, Kim's legal team moved to the National Forensic Service to challenge Garso Sero's evidence, based on which multiple advertisers sued him last month. The YouTube channel's host, Kim Se Ui, had accused the actor of being in an 'inappropriate relationship' with the late Bloodhounds star and released photographs, audio recordings, and more to back his claims, most of which were labelled as fabricated by Kim's agency, Gold Medalist.
Also read: Kim Soo Hyun moves National Forensic Service after his plush apartment seized; to challenge Garosero's 'fabricated' evidence
On May 2, the advertiser filed another lawsuit, this time demanding 850 million KRW (around $625,000 USD) in damages. This time, they brought in Homesys (a rental services arm), their Malaysian subsidiary, and other CUCKOO Holdings affiliates to file a joint lawsuit against both the actor and his one-man agency, demanding 2.03 billion KRW (around $1.47 million USD) in damages. The case was referred to the 22nd Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court. Meanwhile, the earlier 850 million KRW claim was assigned to the 7th Civil Division of the Seoul Eastern District Court. So now, Kim's legal team will have to fight the same lawsuits in multiple courts. Meanwhile, one of its subsidiaries reportedly filed a 50 million KRW (about $36,600 USD) provisional seizure against Gold Medalist. This was also approved by the court on May 27.
This was followed by an April 25 lawsuit from a cosmetic company that sued the actor, demanding 510 million KRW (roughly $367,000 USD), though the name of the company has not been disclosed yet. The move came just days after a medical aesthetics company seized one of his posh properties in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, freezing it for 3 billion KRW (around $2.21 million USD).
Meanwhile, Kim's fans across the globe have accused these advertisers of riding the actor's success during his peak era and now abandoning him over a controversy that hasn't reached a conclusion yet, causing secondary harm. They stress that these companies are targeting someone who is already facing false allegations. The fans have launched a campaign to boycott these brands.