The battle over the truth is exploding after Cha Ga-won, who leads One Hundred Label, hit back at the uproar surrounding singer-actor Lee Seung-gi’s jeonse at a luxury villa in Hannam-dong, and Lee’s side immediately vowed legal action.
On June 11, Cha’s legal representative, attorney Hyun Dong-yeop, uploaded a YouTube video titled "The Secret Behind MBC and Lee Seung-gi’s Hannam-dong Jeonse Scam."
The controversy began with MBC’s current affairs program PD Note, which aired on June 2. The broadcast raised allegations that Cha encouraged agency artists to move into a luxury villa in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, owned by him and his spouse, and arranged large jeonse loans. Lee Seung-gi was reportedly living there on a jeonse deposit of 10.5 billion won, and through the program he conveyed that he "was asked for a jeonse deposit more than three times higher than the first amount he was told."
In response, Hyun rebutted via the YouTube video, saying, "The narrative that agency artists were placed in unsold units is false." He argued, "That villa had already been sold," and claimed, "During exclusive contract talks, Lee Seung-gi wanted to receive one unit in lieu of a signing bonus, saying he wanted it done like Baekhyun."
He then released message screenshots suggesting Lee knew about a desktop appraisal and the valuation process, adding, "Lee Seung-gi did not sign the jeonse contract after being unilaterally deceived." He further explained, "The bank issuing a 7.3 billion won loan against the property means the market price was assessed through a financial institution’s appraisal."
On the loan interest, Hyun claimed, "Cha Ga-won fronted the interest as company funds and treated it as an advance to Lee," and even brought up unpaid building maintenance fees, insisting, "Mr. Lee must settle the maintenance fees before moving out."
Lee’s side immediately fired back. His attorney, Yoon Yong-seok, said, "Cha Ga-won’s team keeps distorting the core issue with repeated false claims," adding, "We will expose Cha’s criminal allegations through law enforcement and hold him accountable."
They also stressed that the reason for terminating Lee’s exclusive contract was unpaid settlements. Regarding maintenance fees, they claimed, "We agreed that Cha’s side would cover them until unpaid balances were settled and then offset them, but arrears continued, and Lee fully paid them on June 4."
They continued, "Lee first covered delayed on-site staff wages out of pocket," and countered, "The loan interest that Cha claims to have paid was treated as a company advance from the start without consent, meaning Lee ultimately shouldered it." They added, "As a label head, Cha Ga-won must first fulfill his duties by resolving unpaid wages and unsettled balances owed to partner companies, employees, and signed artists."
On the jeonse scam allegations, Lee’s side said, "If this isn’t a scam, then when the lease ends soon, the landlord simply needs to fulfill the obvious duty of returning the jeonse deposit properly."
Meanwhile, through the video, Cha apologized for delayed wage payments. He said, "We are deeply sorry for the late payments and bow our heads in apology. We failed to keep even the most basic promise to those who trusted and worked with us." He continued, "We intend to pay the unpaid wages," promising to guide the concrete process through a law firm and make payment as quickly as possible.
Cha Ga-won co-founded One Hundred Label with singer-producer MC Mong and expanded aggressively in entertainment by acquiring Big Planet Made Entertainment, Million Market, and INB100. Recently, however, the company has been engulfed in a firestorm amid accusations of unpaid settlements, termination notices from artists, and injunction filings.