Novelist So Jae-won publicly calls out Ko Ji-yong over child support dispute

Novelist So Jae-won. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]

Novelist So Jae-won has publicly weighed in on the child support and visitation dispute involving Ko Ji-yong, a former member of the K-pop group Sechs Kies.

On Friday, So wrote on his Instagram that he had come across a string of news reports about Ko and found himself sighing at the thought of the child who could be hurt. "As someone who is a single parent after divorce, I found it hard to relate to much of what was being said," he wrote.

So said he was also taken aback by reports that roughly 40 million won in child support had gone unpaid.

Regarding Ko's side citing deteriorating health, hospitalization and financial hardship as reasons for the missed payments, So said he was speaking from a personal standpoint but added, "I did not find that particularly convincing."

On the issue of visitation with Ko's son, So said he fully understood the position of the mother who is actively raising the child.

So introduced himself as a single father who holds both parental rights and custody, and shared details about his own post-divorce parenting situation.

He said he had chosen not to seek child support from his ex-wife at the time of their divorce, taking into account that she had left the workforce, and that no separate agreement had been made. So quoted his ex-wife as saying, "What kind of mother takes care of herself first and gives the children whatever is left over? You put the children first." He added, "Isn't that exactly what it means to be a parent?"

So also noted that Ko had recently resumed activity on TikTok and signed with an agency. "New challenges and fresh starts always deserve encouragement," he wrote. "But right now, I hope you will find work you can do immediately, take full responsibility for the overdue child support, pay it off completely, and show what it truly means to be a father."

He closed his post by writing, "No child in this world is ever disappointed or ashamed to see a banknote that smells of their father's sweat. Rather than raging over the asset freeze, rather than suspecting the mother of using the child, I sincerely ask that you let your child feel a father's love."

Ko Ji-yong, a former member of the K-pop group Sechs Kies. [Mountain Movement Story provided]

Earlier, Ko's side filed an injunction with the court on Wednesday seeking to prohibit interference with visitation rights and to ban the posting of photos and videos of his son Seungjae. Ko has said that in the roughly two years since his divorce from Heo Yang-im in April 2024, he has been able to see his son only about six times.

Ko acknowledged that he had failed to pay child support on time. According to his agency, Mountain Movement Story, he is required to pay approximately 1.8 million won per month.

The agency said Ko underwent hospital treatment for liver cirrhosis, liver sclerosis and shock starting May 9, 2024 — shortly after his divorce on April 24, 2024 — and was hospitalized multiple times over the following two years. "Could he really have paid child support when he could not even cover his own medical bills?" the agency said.

The agency said Ko had told Heo that he could not pay all the overdue support at once but proposed installment payments now that his situation had improved, though the offer was not accepted.

The agency also said Heo had filed for an asset freeze, resulting in Ko's bank accounts and insurance policies being seized. "We were already paying regular child support, but we could no longer stand by while she refused to let him see the child, ignored warnings about violations of child protection law, and used the child to promote a hospital," the agency said.

In response, Heo posted on her own Instagram on Thursday, saying she was being very careful about speaking publicly because she was thinking first of Seungjae, who is at a sensitive age, as his sole legal guardian.

Heo said no separate arrangement for regular visitation had been made at the time of the divorce. She explained that she had been the first to file a visitation ruling request with the court, arguing that Ko was improperly restricting her visitation rights.

She added that she intended to carry out visitation faithfully in accordance with the court's future ruling.

Ko and Heo married in 2013 and had a son, Seungjae, the following year. They appeared together on the KBS2 variety program "Superman Is Back" for about two years starting in 2017. As the two sides' accounts conflict, the circumstances behind the unpaid child support and the question of whether visitation was improperly restricted are expected to be settled by the court. Ko signed an exclusive contract with Mountain Movement Story on July 21 and is preparing to resume his career.

dbsdn1110@heraldcorp.com