Trot singer Sukhang. [Yonhap]
Trot singer Sukhang. [Yonhap]

Trot singer Sukhang, 47, whose real name is Han Sukhang, has lost a lawsuit filed against her as an alleged third party in an extramarital affair and must pay 30 million won ($21,700) in damages — even after arguing she was herself a victim of deception. The decisive factors in her defeat, it has emerged, were her former boyfriend's refusal to testify and her failure to present objective evidence that his marriage had already broken down before their relationship began.

YouTuber Lee Jin-ho revealed the details Tuesday on his channel in a video titled "Sukhang, who claimed she was also deceived, ultimately ordered to pay 30 million won — I obtained the ruling and here's the decisive reason."

Lee said the court had ordered Sukhang to pay 30 million won in damages and that her former boyfriend had declined to take the witness stand. The court ruled against her, he explained, precisely because there was no objective evidence that she could reasonably have believed the marriage had already collapsed.

"During the trial, Sukhang requested that her former boyfriend, identified as Mr. B, testify as a witness, and she naturally expected him to do so," Lee said. "But as of last year, Mr. B had a child in their final year of high school, and he refused to appear, saying he did not want to cause the child any further pain."

Lee added that the situation had been critical for Sukhang. "For her to have any advantage, Mr. B needed to personally state that he had deceived her into thinking he was not a married man," he said. "It would have been far clearer if he had explained in his own words why he deceived her, how he did it, and what his reasons were. From Sukhang's perspective, she was completely blindsided."

However, Lee noted that Mr. B had not been entirely absent from the proceedings. "Perhaps he found it hard to simply watch Sukhang suffer," Lee said. "Even though he could not appear as a witness, he submitted a written statement to the effect that Sukhang had indeed been deceived by him."

The court, however, did not accept the document as evidence.

Lee said the court acknowledged the claim but held that, if the parties' account were true, there should have been objective materials showing Sukhang had reasonable grounds to believe the marriage had broken down beforehand. "There needed to be objective evidence — such as a claim that the relationship was already over, a written divorce agreement, or records showing through phone calls that he was no longer in contact with his wife and was paying child support," Lee said. "But the court found the materials submitted were insufficient to make that determination."

Ultimately, Lee said, the court's position was: "You are only making assertions without any evidence to back them up — how are we supposed to rule in your favor?" He added that even the written statement had revealed that Mr. B had deceived Sukhang.

Meanwhile, the affair allegations against Sukhang first came to light through JTBC's current affairs program "Sageon Banjang," which aired in December last year.

At the time, a tipster identified as Ms. A claimed her husband had left home after having an affair with Sukhang. The controversy grew after the program aired CCTV footage appearing to show a man presumed to be the husband and a woman presumed to be Sukhang embracing and kissing.

In response, Sukhang said she had begun the relationship after being told that the man's marriage had "in effect already broken down and only the legal formalities remained," and that property division and alimony had all been settled.

As the controversy intensified, Sukhang apologized, saying she was "sincerely sorry for causing concern over a personal matter," and withdrew from the MBN program King of Veteran Singers 3.

On Thursday, a court handed down a partial ruling against Sukhang in the palimony suit, ordering her to pay 30 million won in damages.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com