SM Entertainment said on September 28 that it has filed criminal complaints over AI-generated images that alter the likeness of Lim Yoona, and over false claims spread using those images. In a second statement the same day, the agency said it will also take legal action over malicious posts aimed at aespa's Winter.
SM said it has found more manipulated images of Yoona, made without her consent, circulating on social media and online communities. It is gathering evidence from fan reports sent through its KWANGYA 119 channel and from its own monitoring, and says it will not show leniency or settle. The agency warned that sharing or reposting this content can break Korean law, not just making it. It asked people to stop making or posting the images and unverified rumours at once, and to stop spreading them through reposts, quote posts, articles that carry the images and uploads to online communities. It cited the information network act's defamation rules, portrait rights, and the sexual crimes act's ban on editing and distributing fabricated videos.
For Winter, the posts SM objects to include defamation, insults, personal attacks, sexual harassment and false information on X, Instagram, YouTube and Korean forums such as TheQoo, Instiz, DC Inside, Women's Generation and Nate Pann. Its lawyers have reviewed them, and complaints will be filed in stages. The agency said anonymous forums and other sites are covered too.
SM said it will pursue offenders whether they are in Korea or abroad. It plans to ask the authorities to trace who made and spread the content, and to keep strengthening its response under what it calls a zero-tolerance policy.
Sources · 1