Ko Ji-yong takes legal action against ex-wife Heo Yang-im over access to son

Ko Ji-yong, 46, a former member of the K-pop group Sechs Kies, has taken legal action against his ex-wife Heo Yang-im, 46, over a dispute involving their 12-year-old son. He also disclosed that he had fallen behind on child support payments and that he has been battling a serious illness.

Ko's agency, Mountain Movement Story, said Wednesday that Ko had filed an injunction against Heo seeking to prevent interference with his visitation rights and to bar her from posting photos and videos of their child.

Ko said he has been paying child support regularly but has been unable to see his son. "I could no longer tolerate her refusal to let me see the child, her disregard for my warnings about violations of child protection law, and her use of the child to promote her medical clinic," he said. Heo is a family medicine specialist.

Ko also said he had initiated criminal proceedings against Heo, though he did not specify the charges. Given his references to child protection law violations, the action is believed to involve child abuse charges.

Ko acknowledged that he had fallen behind on child support and that Heo had taken legal steps in response. "She demanded child support payments and filed for provisional seizure, freezing my bank accounts and insurance," he said. "After an injunction application and a visitation rights claim were filed on Sept. 5, I could no longer stay silent."

Ko said he had sent written notice stating his intention to fulfill his obligations but received no response. "I sent two replies requesting that the unpaid child support be allowed in installments," he added.

Ko revealed that he had been dealing with serious health problems even before the divorce. "After our agreed divorce on April 24, 2024, I was rushed to the hospital in critical condition in early May and had to prepare for the possibility of death," he said. "My condition worsened during our marriage as well, though we parted on amicable terms. Over the roughly two years since, I have been hospitalized multiple times and hovered between life and death." His health struggles are widely seen as the underlying reason for the missed payments.

"I was trying to recover and return to normal life, but the refusal to communicate and the stream of lawsuits became too much to bear," Ko said, explaining why he decided to pursue legal action.

Ko married Heo, a physician, in 2013, and the couple have a son, Seungjae. The family appeared together on the KBS2 program "Superman Is Back" in 2017 to wide affection, but Ko revealed only last July that the couple had divorced two years earlier.

Custody of Seungjae following the divorce is understood to have been granted to Heo. She has been sharing updates through her personal social media accounts and YouTube channel, while Ko has expressed his longing for his son on social media on several occasions.