Kim Soo Hyun–Cuckoo rift deepens: Court demands clear grounds for 2 billion won lawsuit: Report

Kim Soo Hyun–Cuckoo rift deepens: Court demands clear grounds for 2 billion won lawsuit

Kim Soo Hyun’s decade-long partnership with Cuckoo Electronics has collapsed into a courtroom battle, and the fallout is larger than a simple contract dispute. What started as a quiet suspension of ads has now turned into a 2-billion-won lawsuit, tangled up with a separate social media storm involving allegations about actress Kim Sae Ron. The situation has grown messy enough that the Seoul Central District Court has stepped in and asked the company to explain, in plain terms, why it is suing the actor in the first place.

Here’s what this really means. Cuckoo Electronics, along with its affiliates Cuckoo Homesys and Cuckoo International (MAL) Berhad, filed a civil lawsuit claiming a breakdown of trust. They say that the long-running endorsement deal could no longer continue. But when the court pressed them for specifics, the company’s reasoning didn’t land clearly. The judge asked whether the “breakdown of trust” was mutual or solely the actor’s fault, and what exact actions by Kim triggered their decision to terminate the contract. In short, if a brand wants 2 billion won in damages, it needs to spell out the why.

The court also pointed to another issue: compensation depends on who is actually at fault. If both sides contributed to the rift, the math changes. If only one party did, the calculation shifts again. Cuckoo claimed they did not end the contract because of gossip or online outrage, but because trust itself had eroded. They also argued they had no obligation to wait for any criminal investigation to conclude before ending their agreement.

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Kim Soo Hyun’s legal team countered by saying the company hasn’t shown which part of his contract he supposedly violated. They also said Cuckoo still hasn’t explained which of the actor’s actions or statements during the dispute they found problematic. Without those details, the lawsuit hangs on vague explanations rather than hard facts.

The allegations around Kim Sae Ron — particularly claims about a relationship when she was a minor — add a layer of scrutiny, though nothing has been proven in court. The judge noted that the truthfulness of those accusations could influence the case, especially if Cuckoo intends to push ahead with the civil suit before the criminal investigation settles.