A compensation case filed against actor Lee Jun Ki has been withdrawn. The lawsuit, which sought the return of a $455,000 investment, was filed against the actor and his former agency, Mentor Entertainment. It will now be limited to his former agency.
The claim was filed shortly before the actor was discharged from the military in February 2012. The corporation claimed they paid the actor almost half a million dollars as an advance payment for their investment in a cosmetics company. It was supposed to be a joint venture. The deal was put together in 2009 by Mentor Entertainment, which arranges such investment deals with Hallyu stars.
When Lee Jun Ki appeared in court last November, he said that the claim had nothing to do with him. He never saw the money and never signed a contract for a joint venture. Mentor Entertainment may have signed the contract without telling him about it.
"After receiving the money, none of it was used for the cosmetics business it was supposed to be used for," said Lee Jun Ki's attorney. "The head of Mentor Entertainment used the money for his own company because it was suffering."
Meanwhile, the entertainment agency's lawyers claimed the deal fell through because Lee Jun Ki left to sign with IMX Entertainment. As a result they were not liable.
"Lee Jun Ki left for another agency, saying he would not participate in the business," said Mentor Entertainment's legal representative. "This makes him responsible. The money was used to support him while he was still signed with the agency."
The judge ruled that the money should have been returned if the entertainment company had no intention of continuing with the business.
Complicating the case was the fact that Mentor Entertainment was no longer in business. Documents on when the money was received and how it was spent are proving difficult to locate.
It was not the first time that Mentor Entertainment was accused of breach of contract. The agency was previously involved in a comparable compensation suit that involved a modeling contract for a Chinese clothing brand.
Lee Jun Ki currently plays Jang Tae Sang in the MBC drama "Two Weeks." His character is a man who must prove his innocence and save his daughter while he is being pursued by assassins and the police. He is best known for his role in the film, "The King and The Clown."
