Choi Jin sil sued for...

wait for it, being beaten. Apparently:

"Models who failed to maintain appropriate dignity as representatives of the products they represent should compensate for the damages caused to their advertiser... The Supreme Court reversed the original ruling and ruled in favor of a construction company that filed a suit against the deceased actress Choi Jin-sil, who committed suicide last October."

And just what did this woman do to "depreciate the company's social reputation" apart from being beaten? Apparently, she had the gall to not hide it:

"However, in August, Choi appeared on television and newspapers with her face full of bruises, allegedly caused by the violence of her then husband... "

The article goes on to quote the Supreme Court as saying that Choi breached her contract because of her "failure to maintain an adequate image." The article also states that Choi was supposed to advertise "dignity and happiness" and that, as the apartment's model, "she was under the obligation to act accordingly."

Perhaps they should've put a clause in the contract to oblige her husband to act accordingly.

I find the whole 'blame the victim' tone of this article and the court case itself disgusting. Victims of domestic violence who have the balls to step up and highlight the realities of it should be applauded, not punished again like this, especially when she's not even here to defend herself (that part really is just too obscene to even comment on right now)!

And the gem of the article for me:

"A lower court said in an earlier ruling that Choi could not be held responsible for depreciating the image of the apartment or the company as she had not been proven guilty of causing her former husband's violence."

Well, full points to the lower court for ruling in her favor but, really, why is 'cause' even an issue? Yes, I know, I'm in Korea and things are different here. But I used to do counselling at a women's refuge and I can, with 100% certainty, say that I never heard any excuse good enough to cause such violence.

For the courts to even bring the cause of the violence into the argument (let alone base their decision on it) shows me how far Korea has to go before it can be considered the 'enlightened' country it wants to be.

More here, including the company in question, who I hope will face some serious public shaming over this.