The defamation case filed by BTS members V and Jungkook against controversial YouTuber Sojang has taken a new turn, as a court-led mediation session held on July 21 failed to yield a settlement. The hearing took place at the Seoul Western District Court at 9:40 am KST (6:10 am IST) in hopes of resolving the matter without proceeding to a full trial. However, both parties could not come to an agreement, and the mediation was officially declared unsuccessful.
This development indicates that the legal battle will now escalate to a standard trial. The case, first filed in January 2025, involves allegations that Sojang—operator of the Taldeok Camp YouTube channel—spread false and harmful information about V and Jungkook in a series of videos.
The court had earlier ruled in favor of the BTS duo in February 2025, determining that 23 of Sojang’s videos (published between October 2021 and June 2023) were indeed defamatory. She was ordered to pay 76 million KRW (approx. ₹47 lakh), slightly lower than the 90 million KRW sought by the artists, partly due to her status as a first-time offender and her expression of remorse.
Despite that ruling, Sojang’s repeated history with defamation has continued to fuel concern. She has previously lost similar lawsuits filed by IVE’s Jang Wonyoung and ex-Wanna One star Kang Daniel.
Now that mediation has failed, the spotlight returns to the court trial, which is expected to bring further legal consequences and possibly set precedents for how online defamation cases involving celebrities are handled in South Korea.
