The court has ruled on a damages compensation case related to false news dissemination involving Jang Wonyoung, a member of the popular girl group IVE operated by Starship Entertainment. On June 6, the Seoul Central District Court's Single Judge Division 50 ordered defendant A, the operator of the YouTube channel "De-fancier camp," to pay 50 million KRW in damages in a lawsuit filed by Starship Entertainment. Defendant A filed an appeal against this ruling, and the appellate court decided to refer the case for mediation. Subsequently, on October 30, a compulsory mediation conclusion was reached.

Compulsory mediation is a system where the court determines reconciliation terms between both parties, and if no objections are raised within two weeks after the court's decision, it has the same effect as a judgment. This is not the first compulsory mediation involving De-fancier camp. Defendant A also reached a compulsory mediation conclusion in a damages lawsuit related to singer Kang Daniel.

Starship Entertainment stated, "Since November 2022, we have been pursuing civil and criminal lawsuits, including overseas litigation, against De-fancier camp, which has continuously harassed our affiliated artists." They claimed that De-fancier camp spread false information causing severe defamation and inflicted pain on the artists and fans.

De-fancier camp is a cyber-rekka channel that indiscriminately spreads false information and malicious rumors about K-pop artists and has faced much criticism. Starship Entertainment began strong legal actions in July 2023 and secured partial victory in a ruling concerning Jang Wonyoung in December. However, defendant A filed an appeal against this ruling and requested a stay of enforcement.

Defendant A's attorney argued, "It was done for public interest purposes, and we did not know whether the content was false." Starship Entertainment's attorney explained, "The revenue generated from the videos created by A, which caused defamation and business obstruction, is unknown because A deleted the accounts, so only the total revenue can be identified." Additionally, defendant A also filed an appeal against a damages lawsuit worth 100 million KRW directly filed by Jang Wonyoung.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Incheon District Prosecutors' Office indicted defendant A without detention on charges of defamation and insult under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. Defendant A is accused of posting 23 videos between October 2021 and June 2023 on De-fancier camp defaming seven celebrities, including entertainers and influencers. Prosecutors estimated that defendant A earned 250 million KRW in revenue and confirmed that some of the earnings were used to purchase real estate.

Defendant A claimed, "The YouTube videos were merely expressions of opinion," but prosecutors stated that A attempted to destroy evidence by operating the channel anonymously and then deleting it. Additional evidence was found on a laptop used for video editing at A's residence during the investigation.

Starship Entertainment is making every effort to hold defendant A civilly and criminally accountable through ongoing litigation and continues its legal response against the false information spread by the De-fancier camp channel.