Keyeast Drops Supreme Court Appeal, Owes 880 Million Won for Ji Soo Recasting

The former agency of actor Ji Soo, who left the KBS 2TV drama "River Where the Moon Rises" in the middle of its run over school bullying allegations, will pay roughly 880 million won (about $640,000) in damages to the show's production company. The ruling closes a legal fight that started more than four years ago.

According to legal sources on the 6th, Ji Soo's former agency Keyeast filed a notice withdrawing its appeal to the Supreme Court's Third Division on the 24th of last month. Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun oversaw the panel. The withdrawal finalizes a second-trial ruling that orders Keyeast to pay the drama's producer, Canvas N (formerly Victory Contents), around 880 million won plus delayed interest.

The case dates back to March 2021, when bullying allegations against Ji Soo surfaced during the broadcast of "River Where the Moon Rises." He was starring as the male lead, On Dal. By that point, the crew had already filmed 18 of the show's 20 episodes, and six episodes had aired.

As the allegations spread, Ji Soo released a handwritten apology admitting to some of the bullying and stepped away from the drama. The producer brought in actor Na In-woo as a replacement and reshot the show starting from episode seven. The team also went back and refilmed episodes one through six, which had already aired.

The production company argued that recasting the lead and reshooting past episodes drove up costs sharply. It sued Keyeast, Ji Soo's agency at the time, for about three billion won in damages. The claim reportedly covered staff wages, actor fees, and rental costs for sets and equipment.

The courts agreed the agency was liable but scaled back the amount. The first trial ordered Keyeast to pay about 1.42 billion won. The second trial lowered that figure to roughly 880 million won after weighing the losses that were actually proven. The production company's own appeal was later dismissed, and Keyeast's withdrawal at the Supreme Court sealed the second-trial ruling as final.

Ji Soo has been on hiatus since the bullying controversy. In October 2023, he said he had met with the person who first came forward and cleared up the misunderstanding. More recently, he has hinted at a return through his own YouTube channel.