Following the submission of Park Yoochun’s counter suit
against the first accuser in the sexual assault case — in which he
claims that the woman, referred to here as Ms. Lee, approached his
agency and demanded a settlement prior to filing a police complaint
— the current focus of the case has become the settlement and the
interaction between the woman and her boyfriend and C-JeS: who, in fact,
approached whom about the settlement, and was it ever paid?
Both sides have come forward with recordings.
Park Yoochun’s side claims that Ms. Lee first approached the agency demanding 1 billion won
(approximately $864,000). According to Channel A on June 21, CEO Baek
Chang Ju of C-JeS submitted a recording of Ms. Lee’s boyfriend to the
police as evidence. It has been revealed that the recording is of the
boyfriend saying that Ms. Lee can no longer live in Korea because of
rumors of what happened, and asking the agency to help her move to
China.
In a phone call with Channel A, the boyfriend responded, “I simply put [my girlfriend] and Park Yoochun’s
agency in touch as a favor for an acquaintance. I didn’t lie about what
happened. I wasn’t involved in the lawsuit that [my girlfriend] filed,
nor the withdrawal of it five days later.”
Ms. Lee also has a recording supporting her claims that
C-JeS was the one to first offer a settlement, which was revealed by
media. The recording is of a phone call that took place immediately
after the [sexual assault] incident.
The C-JeS agency rep in the clip (played on SBS 8 O’Clock News) says, “We’ve thought a lot about what we can do appease you…”
In another clip: “I think it’s right for [C-JeS] to respond to [the price] that you give us.”
According to an acquaintance of Ms. Lee, who gave a
statement on SBS 8 O’Clock News, C-JeS said that they wanted to make a
settlement, and asked Ms. Lee to wait one day, continuously asking
her to name a price. However, Ms. Lee claims that she did not receive
any settlement from C-JeS, and that if she had, there would be a written
record of it.
C-JeS has stated in response that they will simply reveal
the truth through police investigation, and will not take any separate
action via media.
Police have finished questioning Ms. Lee’s boyfriend and
the C-JeS CEO, and will be tracking account transactions to determine if
money was ever moved for the settlement. Questioning has also wrapped up for the four women who came forward with sexual assault complaints.