A South Korean court on Sunday ordered a photographer to pay 20 million won (2.4 million yen) in compensation to Bungeishunju Ltd. for damages incurred in halting sales of a book of photographs of South Korean actors after the photographer made false statements to the press.
The photographer, Cho Sei Hon, claimed that Bungeishunju had published more photos in the book than was agreed to in the contract and that the publishing date had been moved forward without consultation.
The Seoul District Court ruled Cho damaged Bungeishunju's reputation by making false statements about the case in material he distributed to the press.
The book featured stars such as Bae Yong Joon, Lee Byung Hun, Won Bin and Jang Dong Gun, who intervened to halt sales of the book, which sold all 50,000 copies after it was released in July 2004 and was reprinted.
In an arrangement reached with their agents in November 2004, Bungeishunju agreed to scrap 120,000 copies of the publication in stock and pay the actors for the right to use their images in the first print run of the book.