Park Shin Yang Wins Lawsuit But Still Jobless

The verdict has finally been passed on Park Shin Yang's legal dispute with production company Victory Production which has been going on for the past few months. The Seoul Central District Court ruled on 8th May that Park Shin Yang's appeal was justified and ordered Lee Kim Productions to folk out 380 million KRW of unpaid wages to the earlier.

In a nutshell, Park Shin Yang's 2006 SBS drama Money's Warfare had done exceptionally well in the ratings which prompted Lee Kim Productions (sensing more money to be made) to suggest to SBS and Park Shin Yang for an extension. Park Shin Yang agreed and he was paid 170.5million won per extension episode, 4 times the usual payment for the 16 episodes. Everything was written in black and white, but Park Shin Yang did not receive a cent after the conclusion of the drama filming.



Things then erupted in July 2008 and created an uproar as Park Shin Yang sued Lee Kim Productions for unpaid wages. Lee Kim Productions counter-attacked by getting The Korea Television Drama Production Company Association on it's side, berating Park Shin Yang for demanding ridiculous wages in hard times. Park Shin Yang was subsequently banned indefinitely from acting in any more dramas produced by the association's 30 odd members including SamHwa, Kim Jong Hyuk Production Company, Chorokbaem Media, Olive Nine, Pan Entertainment etc. The broadcasting companies like SBS, KBS, MBC, etc were also asked to enforce the ban on Park Shin Yang. After finishing SBS Painter of the Wind last year, Park Shin Yang has been basically "jobless".



The Seoul Central District Court had ruled that, "Even though the fees stated in the contract signed by Park Shin Yang and Lee Kim Productions were kind of excessive, there are no grounds to dismiss the contract because of that. We have thus decided that the terms in the contract should be abided to legally and Lee Kim Productions must folk out the unpaid wages to Park Shin Yang." Sadly for Park Shin Yang, even though he was won the legal battle and got back the money he deserved, he is still being banned indefinitely by The Korea Television Drama Production Company Association. Hopefully, the ban will be lifted soon, otherwise we will be missing out on a great acting talent.

The website for the Counter Ban against Park Shin Yang is still active today.