Kim Soo-hyun Ordered to Return ₩1.16 Billion in Ad Fees, Appeals Refund Ruling

Court orders a partial refund, rejects contract penalties

Actor Kim Soo-hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist, have been ordered to return 1,159,894,000 won to health supplement company Frombio for the period when it could not use his advertisements. The court rejected the advertiser's claims based on contractual fault, finding that false information spread by a third party was the main cause of the damage to his image.

The November 11, 2026, ruling by the Suwon District Court's 14th Civil Division, presided over by Judge Moon Hyun-ho, awarded about 29.3 percent of the 3.96 billion won Frombio sought. Kim's legal representatives announced on November 13 that they had filed an appeal after receiving the judgment.

The case turns on two different parts of the advertising contract: whether Kim broke his obligations, and whether fees should be returned for days when the advertisements could not be used. The court rejected penalties for breach of contract but ordered a refund under a separate settlement provision.

For Frombio, the judgment recovers part of its advertising spending. For Kim and Gold Medalist, it creates a substantial repayment obligation even though the court attributed the controversy mainly to false allegations spread by someone else. Their appeal challenges that allocation of the financial loss.

Why Frombio stopped using the advertisements

Frombio hired Kim as an advertising model in October 2024. It stopped using the campaign the following year after allegations emerged that he had dated the late actor Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor. Kim denied that allegation and said their relationship began after she became an adult.

Frombio sued Kim and his agency in May 2025, seeking modeling fees and contractual penalties totaling 3.96 billion won. It argued that the controversy had damaged its brand image and breached the contract's requirement that its advertising model maintain an appropriate public reputation.

The court found a concrete effect on the campaign: retailers selling products advertised with Kim's image asked Frombio to remove or replace the relevant pictures. The court accepted that the company had stopped using those advertisements.

The Suwon District Court explained why the controversy affected the campaign:

"Because of the allegations in this case, the defendant's positive and trustworthy image could not be maintained, and promotional activities for the product became impossible," the court said.

Frombio sells health supplements, and the court said the company had contracted with Kim to support a bright, wholesome and trustworthy product image. Its finding connected the refund to the period of interrupted advertising use.

Why the court rejected penalties

The court found insufficient grounds to hold Kim responsible for circumstances justifying termination of the contract. It therefore rejected Frombio's demand for the full modeling fee and penalties on that basis.

Kim's legal representatives, LKB & Partners, said the judgment found no breach of contract or fault by either the actor or his agency. According to their account, the court also found Frombio's termination unlawful and accepted that Kim's responses to the allegations were neither false nor inappropriate.

The court considered the steps Kim took after the allegations emerged, including public statements, a press conference and a criminal complaint against Kim Se-ui, head of the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute. It found that Kim's side had taken measures available to address the controversy.

The judgment identified Kim Se-ui as chiefly responsible for raising the allegations and referred to fabricated KakaoTalk conversations. It reasoned that the resulting public image would have been difficult for Kim to repair, whatever response he made.

How force majeure led to repayment

The court treated the disruption caused by the spread of false information as force majeure under the advertising contract. In simple terms, force majeure refers to circumstances outside the contracting parties' control, with the contract determining what happens when those circumstances prevent the agreed activity.

Here, that finding excused contractual penalties while activating a provision for settling modeling fees for the period when the advertisements could not be used. Kim's lawyers said the provision required a daily calculation of the amount to be returned.

The repayment therefore concerns the unused portion of the advertising arrangement. A contractual penalty would instead impose an additional payment because a party broke an obligation. The court dealt with those requests separately, accepting the limited refund while rejecting claims based on fault.

Gold Medalist disputes the use of force majeure in these circumstances. Its position is that a person targeted by fabricated allegations should not have to return earnings because those allegations disrupted an advertising campaign.

What Kim's appeal challenges

Kim's representatives said they filed an appeal immediately after receiving the judgment. Their challenge focuses on the refund and the court's decision to treat the consequences of unlawful conduct by others as force majeure.

Gold Medalist described Kim as a victim of false information and objected to making him bear the financial consequences. The agency stated:

"It is impossible to accept making a victim of the crime of spreading false information return the model fee," Gold Medalist said.

The agency also made its intended response explicit:

We will contest this part vigorously in the appeals court.

Kim's legal team warned that such a result could give people who publish fabricated accusations greater power to threaten celebrities financially. That is the team's argument for overturning the refund order. No appeal hearing date has been announced.

The amount, interest and legal costs

The court ordered Kim and Gold Medalist to pay the 1,159,894,000 won jointly. This means Frombio can seek payment of the judgment from the defendants, rather than treating the award as separate amounts owed independently by each.

The award is about 2.80 billion won below Frombio's 3.96 billion won claim. The court assigned 70 percent of litigation costs to Frombio and 30 percent to the defendants.

The judgment also adds interest. The court's quoted order specifies an annual rate of 5 percent from October 13, 2026, through November 11, 2026, followed by 12 percent annually from November 12 until payment. Kim's lawyers said the October start date differed from the earlier modeling fee payment dates Frombio had sought to use.

The principal is therefore only part of the eventual payment if the order stands and remains unpaid. The appeal will determine whether the contested refund obligation survives review.

How the dispute developed

The advertising case stretches across more than two years, from the signing of the campaign to the judgment and appeal. The main dates are:

• October 2024: Frombio hired Kim Soo-hyun as an advertising model.
• March 2025: The relationship allegations became a public controversy. Kim held a press conference on March 31 denying that he had dated Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor.
• May 2025: Frombio filed its claim for 3.96 billion won.
• 2025: Frombio stopped using the advertisements after the allegations emerged.
• November 11, 2026: The Suwon District Court ordered the partial refund and rejected contractual penalties.
• November 13, 2026: Kim's representatives announced that they had appealed.

The criminal proceedings concerning the allegations developed alongside the advertising litigation. Kim Se-ui was detained and indicted on suspicion of spreading false information and was standing trial when the refund ruling was reported.

Police findings and the separate damages claim

Investigators found that voice recordings and KakaoTalk messages presented in support of the allegations had been manipulated. The audio was found to have been produced using generative artificial intelligence, while the purported message conversations were also found to have been fabricated.

Police decided in July 2026 not to refer the allegation involving the Child Welfare Act for prosecution, citing insufficient evidence. That decision concerned the allegation against Kim Soo-hyun, while the proceedings against Kim Se-ui concern the dissemination of false information and other alleged conduct.

Kim Soo-hyun has also filed a 30 billion won damages lawsuit against Kim Se-ui, seeking compensation for losses attributed to the spread of false information. That claim places the financial damage from the controversy before another court, separately from the question of what individual advertising contracts require.

The Frombio court considered the false information in deciding who was responsible for the controversy. Its refund ruling nevertheless left Kim and his agency bearing part of the campaign's financial loss, which is the central issue they now want the appeals court to reconsider.

Other advertisers have had different outcomes

The Frombio ruling is one of several disputes involving Kim's advertising contracts. Claims involving advertisers including Cuckoo Electronics, Trendmaker, Classys, Eider and Mido have reportedly totaled about 10 billion won.

The Seoul Eastern District Court dismissed Swiss watch brand Mido's claim against Gold Medalist for the return of approximately 570 million won in advertising contract payments. That ruling was issued in August 2026 and became final in September.

Eider's case followed another route. Its claim for 2.5 billion won was reduced through a court settlement recommendation to the return of approximately 400 million won in remaining modeling fees. That amount is 16 percent of the initial claim, compared with about 29.3 percent awarded in the Frombio case.

A cosmetics company's separate claim for approximately 2.8 billion won is scheduled for judgment on January 22, 2027. These cases involve distinct contractual demands and have produced a dismissal, a settlement recommendation and a contested partial refund.

Kim has also resumed public activities. He filmed advertising for a Philippine fashion brand in July 2026 and appeared as a presenter at the TMA awards ceremony in September. His return to promotional work has taken place while the financial disputes continue through the courts.

Key Points

• The Suwon District Court ordered Kim Soo-hyun and Gold Medalist to return 1,159,894,000 won to Frombio, plus interest.
• The court rejected contractual penalties and claims based on fault, attributing the reputational damage mainly to false information spread by a third party.
• The refund covers the period when Frombio could not use the advertisements, calculated under a contractual settlement provision.
• Kim's representatives have appealed the refund and the court's application of force majeure.
• Frombio must bear 70 percent of litigation costs; the defendants must bear 30 percent.
• A separate cosmetics advertising dispute involving approximately 2.8 billion won is scheduled for judgment on January 22, 2027.