By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A U.S. beef importer filed a 300-million-won ($250,000) compensation suit with a Seoul court against actress
Kim Gyoo-ri-I for allegedly misleading the public into a boycott of their product and damaging sales.
According to the Seoul Southern District Court, A-Meat, which specializes in U.S. beef, filed the suit against the actress, claiming that Kim's comments, along with "twisted reports and comments" made on MBC's investigative program "PD Notebook" about the beef, have caused the company to shut down 47 franchise stores nationwide, inflicting more than 2 billion won in losses.
Amid fierce debates over the Lee Myung-bak government's resumption of U.S. beef imports, Kim posted an article on her Web site in May claiming that she'd "rather drink up potassium cyanide than eat U.S. beef and bones tainted with bovine spongiform encephalopathy virus". Her comment caused a stir among consumers and is said to have led many other celebrities to speak up against the imports.
"Due to Kim's ignorant comments, people refused to eat U.S. beef. She damaged our business and, furthermore, the 300 billion won domestic market", Park Chang-kyu, the head of A-Meat, reportedly said.
Kim's agent declined to comment on the issue.
