Kim Ho-joong, Myung Se-bin, I was angry… Suffering from 'impersonation'

The more popular you are, the more bad stories come out of nowhere. Someone has a contract with a third party, someone has a marriage partner, and someone else has an SNS account impersonated.

Kim Ho-joong, Myung Se-bin, Shinji, Shim Hyung-tak, and Heo Ji-woong were outraged. Because he is suffering from 'impersonation'. What they chose was a tough response. He left a strong warning to those who impersonated him.

On July 6, it was reported that there were impersonation damages related to performances and advertisements that mentioned the name of Kim Ho-joong. In response, the agency, Thought Entertainment, said, "There is no external contract. Kim Ho-joong is not conducting any contracts such as performances and advertisements with a third party." The agency plans to continue monitoring, asking for attention to prevent cases of damage caused by impersonating Kim Ho-joong's name.

'Doctor Cha Jeong-sook' ranked 4th in JTBC's all-time viewer ratings. Myung Se-bin, who played the role of Choi Seung-hee in the play, asked to be careful about men who pretended to marry her through SNS after the drama ended. On the 12th of last month, Myung Se-bin, after deep consideration, said, "From 2 to 3 years ago, Mr. Lee, who said he was getting married soon, was doing a big business. Real estate agencies introduced newlyweds and buildings, and there were reports from various places to invest business funds. It's coming in," he said.

Myung Se-bin emphasized, "I don't know this person at all, and I don't have plans to marry yet. If someone like this approaches me pretending to marry me, I hope you don't misunderstand and be careful not to be harmed." In particular, it also mentions defamation under Article 307 of the Penal Code. Article 307 of the Criminal Law Defamation refers to a crime that constitutes a violation of a person's reputation by stating false information.

Shinji was surprised by the social media hacking attempt on July 6th. He said, "I was startled in my sleep~ What is this from dawn? Let's not do this! You are very persistent." Shinji's text message box received a number of text messages informing him of the SNS security code. Through this, it is possible to know that someone tried to hack Shinji's SNS. Fortunately, Shinji was not hacked.

Shim Hyung-tak is about to get married to his Japanese girlfriend Saya, who is 18 years younger than him. On May 11 this year, he left a warning message to the person who impersonated the bride-to-be on social media. According to Shim Hyung-tak, his bride-to-be did not initially use social media, but started using social media after the appearance of an impersonating account. Shim Hyung-tak said he reported the impersonation account. Shim Hyeong-tak's bride-to-be, Saya, also said, "I'm impersonating myself. It's a scam. Be careful."

In addition, Heo Ji-woong also asked to be careful of impersonation damage on July 5th. He said, "I don't use any social media other than the account I'm posting this article on. I don't even send a message to someone else first. Not to mention, 'I want to know your face, I'm waiting for your reply, sincerely...' I have never used it even for my parents." He said, "I know that these accounts are created without stopping even if you continue to report them. If you receive a note, ignore it and report it as an impersonation account to protect your money and kidneys."

The problem of impersonating stars such as Kim Ho-joong, Myung Se-bin, Shin Ji, Shim Hyung-tak, and Heo Ji-woong continues to occur. Faced with the impersonation problem, their only choice is to take a tough line. Although it is a chronic problem, there is no proper way to punish it. A bill to amend the law has been proposed in the National Assembly, but it has been pending for three years due to concerns over excessive expansion of the right to punish. However, punishment is only possible if there is secondary damage, such as financial damage caused by an impersonating account.

Even if stars ask for caution against impersonation, they may be tempted by accounts cleverly made to look like real ones. All the stars can do is ask for attention as of now and continue monitoring. Even if you report it, it disappears and the account is created again. In the end, it means that even if you ask for a damage warning, you should approach your account more carefully. It is just regrettable that a star can become an object of impersonation just because he is a star, and that star's fans can become victims of that impersonation.

Reporter Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia kkk39@tenasia.co.kr