Kim Ki-duk, an internationally acclaimed filmmaker, has lodged a damages suit against an actress who claimed she was sexually assaulted by him and a local television broadcaster that reported on the sexual assault allegations against him. According to legal authorities on Friday, Kim filed a 1 billion won (US$880,700) suit earlier this month to the Seoul Western District Court against the actress and MBC, insisting that he suffered damages from their false claims.

In August 2017, the actress, whose identity is being withheld, pressed assault and coercion charges against Kim, claiming that he forced her to perform unscripted sex scenes during the shooting of a film. Citing insufficient evidence, the prosecution cleared Kim of the sexual assault charges but did impose a 5 million-won fine on the 58-year-old for slapping her. Against this backdrop, Kim later accused the actress of calumny over the sexual assault charges and also filed a defamation suit against MBC, which aired a program based on the actress’ statement. But the prosecution decided on a non-indictment for the actress and MBC, saying it could not conclude whether their claims were false or not. In February, Kim filed a 300 million-won suit against Korean Womenlink, claiming that he suffered financial damage from the civic group’s move to remove his film from a movie festival.

(Yonhap)