Kim Hoon, founder and CEO of U.S. tech firm SeeDevice / Courtesy of Kim Hoon
The founder of a U.S. tech company that has filed a defamation lawsuit against Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and its U.S. affiliate, KBS America, says false reporting by the broadcaster cost him years of research and a major commercial opportunity and he is seeking up to $1.23 billion in damages.
Kim Hoon, founder and CEO of SeeDevice, told The Korea Times in an interview that the KBS report caused substantial harm to both his reputation and that of his company.
“In addition to recovering the economic losses caused by the false report, we are seeking compensation for the reputational harm suffered by me and the company,” Kim said. “We are also seeking punitive damages to the maximum extent permitted under U.S. law, as well as a retraction of the false report.”
A damages expert retained by SeeDevice calculated the company's economic losses at between $236.25 million and $1.23 billion, citing business opportunities that fell through following the KBS report. A trial has been set at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to begin in January 2027.
