Here is a story that I simply could not believe — the estate of late-actress Choi Jin-sil was successfully sued by an advertiser because Choi was beaten by her former husband.

The unnamed construction company hired Choi in early 2004 to advertise their apartments. But in August, Choi was badly beaten by her then-husband, and instead of hiding the scandal, she went public. It was huge news at the time.

(You’ll have to trust me about how big that story was, though, since none of the English-language newspapers’ archives seem to go back that far, and none of the Korean gossip sites were in operations back then… But there is this Hani story).

The court’s judgment?

Models who failed to maintain appropriate dignity as representatives of the products they represent should compensate for the damages caused to their advertiser, the top court ruled.

Okay, technically, she was probably sued because she went public with the scandal instead of hiding it. But regardless, not a great moment for the Korean courts. Most of the time I think the Korean courts get overly criticized by the expat community in Korea, but this story really bothered me.