IVE’s Jang Won-young: Defendant Sentenced to Prison Over Fabricated Videos as Starship Files New Complaints
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Starship Entertainment has confirmed a significant development in its long-running battle against online harassment: a defendant has been sentenced to prison for creating and distributing fabricated videos targeting IVE member Jang Won-young.
The agency shared the update on September 9 through IVE’s official social media channels, framing it as part of a broader, ongoing campaign to hold “cyber wreckers” accountable under a strict zero-tolerance policy.
The announcement also revealed that Starship has filed additional criminal complaints against individuals who have repeatedly posted and distributed malicious content aimed at Jang Won-young, signaling that this single court victory is far from the end of the agency’s legal offensive.
What Starship Announced
In its statement, Starship explained that among the cases it has pursued through its legal representative, the law firm Kim & Chang, a defendant who had been indicted on criminal charges — including the distribution of fabricated video materials targeting one of its artists — was recently sentenced by the court to a term of imprisonment.
The agency did not disclose the exact length of the sentence, the defendant’s identity, or granular details about the fabricated footage itself, which is consistent with how Korean entertainment agencies typically handle statements involving ongoing or sensitive legal matters.
What Starship did make clear is the tone of its response.
The company said it “responded firmly throughout the investigation and trial proceedings,” and pledged that, going forward, it will “hold those responsible accountable to the fullest extent of the law” in line with its zero-tolerance policy toward serious violations of its artists’ rights.
Alongside confirming the prison sentence, Starship revealed it had filed fresh criminal complaints that same day against so-called cyber wreckers — a term widely used in South Korea to describe anonymous online users who repeatedly spread defamatory content, fake news, and manipulated media about public figures — as well as against the original authors of malicious posts targeting Jang Won-young.
A Pattern, Not an Isolated Incident
What makes this case notable isn’t just the prison sentence itself, but the scope of enforcement Starship is describing. The agency stated it will continue monitoring not only the original creators of malicious content but also the accounts and channels that repeatedly repost or redistribute it, even after the material has already been debunked or clarified.
That distinction matters: much of the harm caused by fabricated videos and defamatory claims online doesn’t come from the first upload, but from the cascade of reposts, clips, and reaction content that follows once something goes viral.
Starship also addressed a common obstacle in these kinds of cases — the assumption that anonymity or the use of overseas platforms offers some form of protection.
The agency explicitly stated that it will pursue legal procedures “regardless of whether the platforms are domestic or overseas,” and that pseudonyms or anonymous accounts will not shield offenders from consequences.
This is a meaningful stance given how much malicious content targeting K-pop idols circulates through platforms based outside South Korea, where jurisdiction and cooperation with local authorities can complicate enforcement.
Part of a Longer Legal History
This latest case does not exist in isolation. Jang Won-young has been the subject of repeated online harassment campaigns for years, and Starship has built what amounts to a sustained legal track record defending her — and the group IVE more broadly — against fabricated claims, deepfakes, and defamatory content.
Earlier in 2026, Starship secured a significant legal milestone when South Korea’s Supreme Court finalized rulings in both civil and criminal cases against the operator of a YouTube channel widely known for spreading unverified rumors and malicious slander about entertainers, including Jang Won-young among several other public figures.
That case centered on years of speculative, rumor-driven content that the courts determined crossed the line into the dissemination of false information, even when framed as “just asking questions” or raising unverified suspicions.
The Supreme Court’s reasoning in that earlier case set an important legal precedent that appears to be informing Starship’s current strategy.
The court held that even when content is packaged as speculation rather than stated as fact, it can still constitute the dissemination of false information if the overall context leads viewers to perceive it as true.
The ruling also reaffirmed that celebrities and public figures are entitled to full protection of their reputation and personal rights under Korean law — a principle that pushes back against the idea that public figures forfeit meaningful legal protection simply because of their visibility.
In the months following that ruling, Starship continued to publicly flag ongoing issues. In June, the agency stated it was actively monitoring individuals producing and distributing defamatory content about Jang Won-young and was pursuing legal action with the help of police investigators working to identify suspects and secure evidence, including through international cooperation where necessary.
Around the same period, the idol was also the subject of a false “attitude controversy” — a since-debunked claim about tardiness at an event — which Starship quickly clarified was caused by a delay in the event’s own call-sign management, not any wrongdoing on Jang Won-young’s part.
Why Deepfakes and Fabricated Videos Are a Growing Concern in K-pop
The rise of accessible AI tools for video and image manipulation has made this kind of harassment increasingly difficult to contain.
Fabricated or deepfake videos targeting K-pop idols — particularly young women — have become a persistent problem across the industry, not just for IVE.
These videos can range from crudely edited clips designed to spread false narratives to more sophisticated synthetic media intended to deceive viewers outright.
For agencies, the challenge isn’t limited to identifying and prosecuting a single creator. As Starship’s statement makes clear, malicious content tends to spread through networks of reposting accounts, aggregator channels, and cross-platform sharing that can keep harmful material circulating long after the original source has been taken down or its creator identified.
That’s part of why the agency emphasized it will pursue action against distributors and repeat posters, not just originators.
This mirrors a broader trend across the Korean entertainment industry, where other agencies and even coalitions of fans have taken similar legal routes.
Fan groups representing other celebrities have organized to appoint legal counsel and pursue defamation claims under South Korea’s Information and Communications Network Act, which in certain cases allows third parties to file reports on a public figure’s behalf — a legal avenue increasingly used to combat the sheer volume of malicious content targeting entertainers.
Legal Tools Being Used
Starship’s approach leans heavily on South Korea’s evolving legal framework around online defamation, false information, and the production of fabricated media.
Working through Kim & Chang, one of South Korea’s largest and most prominent law firms, the agency has pursued both civil and criminal avenues in parallel — a strategy that allows it to seek monetary damages through civil suits while also pushing for criminal accountability, including prison sentences, through the courts.
The legal reasoning cited in Starship’s earlier Supreme Court case appears to be a template the agency is now applying more broadly: content doesn’t need to be stated outright as fact to be legally actionable.
If, taken in its overall context, it leads audiences to believe something false is true, it can meet the legal threshold for the dissemination of false information — a standard that closes a loophole often exploited by creators who frame defamatory claims as “rumors,” “leaks,” or “speculation” rather than direct accusations.
What Happens Next
Starship has signaled that this is not a one-time enforcement action but an ongoing process. The agency reiterated that it will continue monitoring both original creators and secondary distributors of malicious content, and that new complaints — like the ones filed alongside this announcement — should be expected as more cases move through investigation and identification.
For now, the confirmed prison sentence stands as a concrete outcome in what has otherwise often been a slow, difficult process of tracking down anonymous accounts, securing evidence, and working through South Korea’s legal system.
Combined with the earlier Supreme Court precedent involving a different defamatory YouTube channel, Starship appears to be building a consistent legal record — one it clearly intends to keep citing and expanding as it continues pursuing those who target its artists, and Jang Won-young in particular, with fabricated or malicious content.
As of this report, Starship has not disclosed further details about the length of the prison sentence or the identity of the individuals named in the newly filed criminal complaints, and it remains to be seen how those additional cases will unfold.