Actor Kang Ji Hwan ordered to pay over $4 million to production company after sexual assault charges

Kang Ji Hwan has been ordered to pay over $4 million to a production company after his sexual assault charges.

As previously reported, Kang Ji Hwan confessed to sexually assaulting two contracted agency employees after drinking with them in his home in July of 2019. He was then given a sentence of 2 years and 6 months in prison with a probationary period of 3 years, which means if he commits a similar crime within a 3-year period he'll be serving jailtime. 

According to legal circles on May 26, the Seoul High Court's civil affairs division ruled in favor of the production company Santa Claus, ordering Kang Ji Hwan and Jellyfish Entertainment to jointly pay 5.3 billion Won ($4,189,460.79 USD) in damages. Due to his sexual assault case, the actor had to drop out of the drama 'Joseon Survival Period', which had only filmed 12 episodes at the time. As the production company had to film with a different actor for the remaining 8 episodes, Santa Claus filed a lawsuit asking Kang Ji Hwan to pay a total of 6.38 billion Won ($5,043,361.93 USD) in damages. 

The court acknowledged Kang Ji Hwan and Jellyfish Entertainment, which he was under an exclusive contract with when the drama was being produced, were responsible for paying the damages as according to his contract with the production company. In addition, the court increased the payment judging Kang Ji Hwan was responsible for some of the appearance fees paid by the drama production company as they had to cast an alternative actor due to his departure. 

Reports say it's common for actors and their labels to pay half of the damages each in such cases, but the ratio may vary based on the degree of negligence. However, Kang Ji Hwan and Jellyfish Entertainment may move to appeal. 

Stay tuned for updates on the case.