Yu-na files libel suit against university professor

[RumbleFish]

In reality, that was what media requested ATS to do. Both paries (media and ATS) discussed about it and made agreement that the media coverage is limited to the first day. Of course, the high school agreeed on it. And, there was no indication at all that students were unhappy with the media coverage.

I am not going to care to search for a news link, but I am pretty sure that there were reports of students booing the photographers because they were unhappy about having their learning experieces ruined.

On the contrary, I think they liked it.

Once again, this just shows sheer arrogance of YNK and her followers. You are assuming that all those school children were overwhlemed by an opportunity to be close to her majesty and happily traded in their rights to receive education in order to become a part of it.

I'm out of words, SIGH.

[lakewood]

I am not going to care to search for a news link, but I am pretty sure that there were reports of students booing the photographers because they were unhappy about having their learning experieces ruined.

Once again, this just shows sheer arrogance of YNK and her followers. You are assuming that all those school children were overwhlemed by an opportunity to be close to her majesty and happily traded in their rights to receive education in order to become a part of it.

I'm out of words, SIGH.

Again, you lack correct information. Students booed because the flash bothered YuNa and they were unhappy with it. That is what was reported.

I think they liked it, because I would have liked it at that age.

[RumbleFish]

Again, you lack correct information. Students booed because the flash bothered YuNa and they were unhappy with it. That is what was reported.

Deny, deny, and deny.
I said students were unhappy with photographers and they booed. This looks like a solid fact.
What you said about students being unhappy for YNK is an observation that could either be right or wrong.

I think they liked it, because I would have liked it at that age.

This is what I am saying. You shouldn't expect everyone else to bow to her just because you do.

[l'etoile]

lakewood, I see that RF is now enjoying his time targeting you. Ignore feature is there for reasons, you know

[taf2002]

I am not going to care to search for a news link, but I am pretty sure that there were reports of students booing the photographers because they were unhappy about having their learning experieces ruined.



Once again, this just shows sheer arrogance of YNK and her followers. You are assuming that all those school children were overwhlemed by an opportunity to be close to her majesty and happily traded in their rights to receive education in order to become a part of it.

I'm out of words, SIGH.

Again, you lack correct information. Students booed because the flash bothered YuNa and they were unhappy with it. That is what was reported.

I think they liked it, because I would have liked it at that age.

Neither of you has a clue as to why the kids booed. You are not in their heads. But it's ridiculous to say that the kids were bothered by their inability to receive an education, merely because they were missing one day of real classtime due to some media madness. And it's ridiculous to say the kids were unhappy because they preceived Yuna was bothered by the flash. First of all, kids are pretty self-absorbed, & second, who's to say they even noticed that Yuna was bothered, if she was? She has to be used to flashbulbs...if she didn't want the media there, they wouldn't have been.

[RunnersHigh]

TIMELINE

• May 08: Yuna started her required subject to graduate, teaching practice, at Jinseon girl's high school.
• May 22: Prof. Hwang had the crazy interview.
  

  And these below were what he said and why he got sued.
  

  • He didn't know which University Yuna entered and what her major is until the day he interviewed. - W-w-what??
  • He criticized Yuna that she went to Jinseon girl's high school just once for a show. - She wasn't absent from school a single day for 4 weeks.
  • He also criticized Yuna's attendance rate is not good enough to graduate. - When she trained & competed in foreign countries, she submitted reports under the statutes of the university and received an F when she refused to submit her Olympics season training schedules. According to the interview from her classmates aired by JTBC, her attendance rate since 2010 had been over 90%.
  • He insisted that "I ,as a professor in a University, never heard of any cyber curriculum to those who train and compete in foreign countries." - Korea University has a private rule on Students atheletes qualifications - Rule 5.3 How to take credit for athletes who trains and competes in foreign country.
  • He declared Yuna's doing teaching practice to take a teaching licence even if it is not needed. - Korea University's private rule on bachelor´s degree describes some required subject her teaching practice was one of them - Rule 18. Required subjects of the Department of Education to graduate.

• May 24: ATS consulted a lawyer about the case and the lawyer's result was Prof. Hwang committed the sin of calumny or slander by lying.
• May 24: Hwang had an interview with OhMyNew and said "My target was not Yuna Kim and her teaching practice but her whole 4 yrs Univ life and preferential treatment on sports talents." And when reporter asked him what basis did you say Yuna's teaching practice is faithless? he answered "I don't give a shit."
• May 24: ATS made it public that if there's no apology, they will take a legal action against Hwang that he fabricated the truth to ruin Yuna's image.
  
  
• ATS waited Hwang's apology for a week.
  
  
• May 28: Radio host sorry for Kim Yuna remark but he didn't.
• May 30: ATS sued him.
• Jun 05: Jian, ATS side law company, announced to public that ATS sued Hwang.
• Jun 06: ATS side lawyer said "ATS is still considering to drop charge, if Hwang apologize."
• Jun 08: Hwang insisted on a radio, YTN, "I already said sorry by resigning the regular slot! How much sorry do I have to say? Do you want me to disembowel myself? I'm upset and want to cry." (He is a psychologist!!!!)
• Jun 08: Hwang in an interview with News1 he insisted "It's a gag. I don't feel the need to react."

Last few days the issue was referred by almost all major prime time news, sports news, news papers and forums all around the country. (I can find hundreds of articles on the net.) Students and teachers of Jinseon girl's high school felt anger, posted pictures and clues of Yuna's everyday at the school and made strong protest directly against the host of the radio program.
Even students of Yonsei Univ. where prof, Hwang is on service blamed none other than him for his faithless lectures and frequent absence due to his appearance on television, radio, etc. And it is known by the students that he has no graduate student from his own class....

[mossop]

lakewood, I see that RF is now enjoying his time targeting you. Ignore feature is there for reasons, you know

Rumblefish is a Yuna haterzzz. Logic and reasoning do not apply to haterzzz.

[RumbleFish]

Rumblefish is a Yuna haterzzz. Logic and reasoning do not apply to haterzzz.

If anyone is lacking logic and reasoning around this tread, it looks like you.

[RumbleFish]

lakewood, I see that RF is now enjoying his time targeting you. Ignore feature is there for reasons, you know

dany, dany and deny.
frame, frame, and frame.

[query5]

i cant pull up--=what is she and her management suing about again.

about a flash that she didnt like, the children being upset because she made them upset because she didnt like.
a teacher stating her courseload is non-functional (not right word) but i think not what goes normally with being a teacher, just a fascade is that what she is suing about.

it seems a least once a year YU-na (ats management) is suing somebody over something, sometimes seems okay sometimes not.
sometimes too much suing also hurts reputation due to whether people consider it a worthy cause. since this isnt in the U.S. why the big deal, can see Korea-she is big there and has to watch what is said, printed, shown about her. Has to all look good, but she is Human after all

[UGG]

She should have just ignored the comment IMO. Let her grades speak for themselves.

[Japanfan]

What a sad situation - IMO being YNK is almost as onerous as being the Queen of England. . she undoubtedly gets all sorts of privileges. But what a drag to have to go through all the hassle of a law suit because someone said something unkind. It's not as if YNK needs the money or publicity.

Wealth and fame have their downside. YNK is in the spotlight and under scrutiny constantly. I think that would become very tiring. One couldn't even go to the corner store for a jug of milk without being photographed or inveigled for interviews.

[azurika]

What a sad situation - IMO being YNK is almost as onerous as being the Queen of England. . she undoubtedly gets all sorts of privileges. But what a drag to have to go through all the hassle of a law suit because someone said something unkind. It's not as if YNK needs the money or publicity.

Wealth and fame have their downside. YNK is in the spotlight and under scrutiny constantly. I think that would become very tiring. One couldn't even go to the corner store for a jug of milk without being photographed or inveigled for interviews.

^This. I never thought I'd empathize with the hardships faced by a drop-dead gorgeous multi-millionaire Olympic gold medalist, and yet now I find myself doing just that. Fame isn't always all it's cracked up to be.

That being said, this doesn't strike me as the most favorable set of facts upon which to win a libel suit, but we'll have to wait and see how it turns out. Perhaps it will indeed end up being a great strategic move on ATS's part, only time (and court filings) will tell.

[Zemgirl]

What a sad situation - IMO being YNK is almost as onerous as being the Queen of England. . she undoubtedly gets all sorts of privileges. But what a drag to have to go through all the hassle of a law suit because someone said something unkind. It's not as if YNK needs the money or publicity.

Wealth and fame have their downside. YNK is in the spotlight and under scrutiny constantly. I think that would become very tiring. One couldn't even go to the corner store for a jug of milk without being photographed or inveigled for interviews.

She doesn't have to go through the hassle of a lawsuit; it's her choice, or her management's. They could have released a statement and stopped at that.

But I am sure that while her fame has many benefits, it also has its drawbacks.

[Japanfan]

She doesn't have to go through the hassle of a lawsuit; it's her choice, or her management's. They could have released a statement and stopped at that.

If I understand correctly, they made that choice in part because of public outrage. Did I get that wrong?

Seems like a waste of time to me. After all, it's not as if Yunah is ever going to get a PhD in nuclear physics or become a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

It appears to me that in part, Team YNK feels it is necessary to do this to quell the public outrage about her unfairly tarnished reputation. But please correct me if I'm wrong. And off course, that team has good reason to keep churning out Yunah news as there a lot of fingers in that abundant pie.

I can't say I have particular admiration for Yunah (as I do others who've used their celebrity and wealth well, like Kwan). I don't feel much of anything about her to be honest, but do question whether she's had the opportunity to become an independent-thinking person who makes her own decisions, or if she remains controlled by her mother, agent, and others who drive the engines of her celebrity.

The Orser situation did raise this question but I never reached any conclusions about that situation and stopped following the story as it was entirely crazy-making.

[Zemgirl]

If I understand correctly, they made that choice in part because of public outrage. Did I get that wrong?

Seems like a waste of time to me. After all, it's not as if Yunah is ever going to get a PhD in nuclear physics or become a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

It appears to me that in part, Team YNK feels it is necessary to do this to quell the public outrage about her unfairly tarnished reputation. But please correct me if I'm wrong. And off course, that team has good reason to keep churning out Yunah news as there a lot of fingers in that abundant pie.

I'm not sure; this isn't something I've been paying much attention to, but the posts in this thread make it seem as though whatever public outrage there is has been directed toward the person who criticized Yu-na rather than Yu-na herself. Wouldn't filing a lawsuit just drag the situation out longer? How does it benefit her to do that?

Looking at Yu-na as a brand , I'm not sure this situation is being managed wisely. But I am largely unfamiliar with Korean media and culture and maybe her people know what they're doing - this time and in the past.

I do feel sorry for Yu-na in the sense that she can't live anything resembling a normal life in her own country.

[RunnersHigh]

If I understand correctly, they made that choice in part because of public outrage. Did I get that wrong?

Well, not exactly. What he said was not limited Yuna only. I mean his words insulted Yuna, her parents, Jinseon girl's high school and Korea Univ. Even if there always had been similar libel from time to time, team Yuna just ignored. But this time it's entirely different.

Seems like a waste of time to me. After all, it's not as if Yunah is ever going to get a PhD in nuclear physics or become a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Quiet right. I know it's just kidding.

It appears to me that in part, Team YNK feels it is necessary to do this to quell the public outrage about her unfairly tarnished reputation. But please correct me if I'm wrong. And off course, that team has good reason to keep churning out Yunah news as there a lot of fingers in that abundant pie.

What you have to know is,

• When Hwang's interview was known to public, many believed his words.
• Media and public blamed Yuna and her teaching practice in belief that there will be no mistake because he is a famous university professor.
• Whole nation read, saw and heard this.
• His groundless slander offended many.

I am curious how you would take this but "In Korea, one's silence on an event has been taken as an admission of guilt." As I wrote above, it became a nation wide issue and Team Yuna had to express their stance not only for themselves but also for the Honor of students and teachers of Jinseon girls' high school and that of Korea Univ.

I can't say I have particular admiration for Yunah (as I do others who've used their celebrity and wealth well, like Kwan). I don't feel much of anything about her to be honest, but do question whether she's had the opportunity to become an independent-thinking person who makes her own decisions, or if she remains controlled by her mother, agent, and others who drive the engines of her celebrity.

The Orser situation did raise this question but I never reached any conclusions about that situation and stopped following the story as it was entirely crazy-making.

Yuna said it was her decision not to extend coaching contract with Sir Orser and again it was Yuna who determined to consult the case and sue him. She is now an adult in University senior.

As who works at a sizable court, I don't believe legal system would help or punish heavily anyone with this case. But it will furnish lessons for the future to those who bombard rough words.

Hope it help you.

[kwanfan1818]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that she do nothing. What is being questioned is whether suing him was a good ideav.

There are plenty of way of taking the high road and skewering your opponent. One is by killing with kindness, like "I'm sorry that Mr. Huang is so misguided..." for example.

[EricRohmer]

What bothers me about this whole public teaching trial thing is that the motive for it seems to be just another public relations ploy rather than a serious learning course for her to become a teacher.

Korean stars majoring in whatever-education(actor Kwon SangWoo etc.) all have the 'short' open media session at the first day of a teaching practice.
That reason : so that reporters will not bother anymore students & the school for the rest of 4 weeks.
Actually there was no media coverage of Yuna's internship after the '20 minutes' open media session. (So professor Hwang was convinced that Yuna would have shown up at high school only ond day. Later, when a reporter said to Hwang that on his collecting information Yuna has been sincerely attending the teaching practice every day, Hwang said "Oh is it so...? But... I want that you investigate at accurately what time Yuna has got to & from high school 'every single day' and let me know.")

p.s) Kwon SangWoo(actor)'s teaching practice, 2003-05 http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5715/58142389.jpg
Park TaeHwan(OGM swimmer)'s teaching practice, 2011-09 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxJyiTScI8

How did the students react? They were unhappy that their class was being ruined by all the flash photography and noise so they started booing.

As lakewood said, the students booed because the cameras gave a flood of flashlights to Yuna.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fu7HEawpRc
[0:13~]
students : (booing)
Yuna : Why?
students : (to reporters) Don't disturb Yuna. Her face would be worn away (due to much flash). (laughs)

When some media were reluctant to leave after the appointed time for the press, [2:33~] the students shouted "get out~ get out~" at the reporters and they started withdrawing and the girls clapped. So the rest(30 minutes) of Yuna's class continued under quiet atmosphere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix5cS0AC6Sw

So this media session restricted to 20 minutes was not a big deal to all except professor Hwang.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some people don't have to worry about Yuna's growing up.
If the degree of one's growth is measured by putting up with silly or unsilly criticisms, Yuna's mental age is now 80 years old.

And professor Hwang is not 'the poor old professor' as a few people think.
He is a 49-year-old professor with a weird personality and BIG ego, and has been enormously exposed through the media for about 10 years. (That is enough for him to have a little of power on the media and masses.)
Because like this he loves so much the media activities, he tends to care less about his lectures. This is a reason why he has not got much respect from his students(including me).
Actually when some of his former/current students heard the news that professor Hwang made verbal mistakes and was sued, their reaction was a kind of "lol. I knew this was going to happen someday".

And Hwang now is keeping on changing his words and lying, so contradictions are happening between his words.

Sorry for my poor English.

[Dragonlady]

Every year Yu-Na is involved in a law suit for some reason or another. This is very poor business practice. A law suit should be seen as a last resort in settling disputes as they are expensive, time consuming, and take both time and energy away from more profitable pursuits.

This case is especially bad from a PR point of view: Yu-Na is very wealthy and the professor is not. This could be seen as bullying someone with a legitimate point, into silence. If athletes are being gifted with degrees they don't have the class time to merit, then Yu-Na could have said that while she is aware that this has gone on, it wasn't true in her case. Instead, she has attacked the man who criticized the system.

In her previous law suits, Yu-Na has taken on corporations with enormous assets. In this case, she has attacked a working man. Not the same thing at all.

Whoever is managing her business affairs is making her seem like a very contentious person to deal with. Not a good image for prospective employers.