Korean singer and actress IU (아이유) has long suffered from malicious online comments and defamation, and a new controversy has recently erupted. A social media account, claiming to have been sued by IU, linked her to a person surnamed Heo (許) who went missing in Jeju in 2020, spreading a baseless conspiracy theory. The posts garnered thousands of likes and quickly went viral.
On May 25, an account operating under the name “Free Democratic Youth” posted on social media, stating, “I have been sued by IU for defamation.” The account further claimed to have heard that IU’s side “sued hundreds of people at once.” The account then veered into political commentary, asserting, “After the July 7 Information and Communications Network Act, Threads was impeached and subsequently sued,” criticizing the relevant law as an “evil law promoted by the Democratic Party of Korea.”
The account then began to connect various elements: Kakao’s headquarters location, the person surnamed Heo who went missing in Jeju in 2020, the purple tracksuit IU wore on the JTBC variety show Hyori's Homestay, and her 2024 song “Shh...” The posts even claimed that the missing Heo was “someone who had previously exposed IU online.”
This post rapidly spread online, garnering thousands of likes, with some netizens joining in to propose other conspiracy theories, further disseminating the claims.
Regarding the claims about the “Shh...” music video, actress Tang Wei (湯唯), who appeared in the MV, previously stated through her agency that her character’s relationship with IU in the work was interesting, noting, “IU plays both my mother and my friend.” IU herself also explained the song’s content, saying, “The person I talk about in my singing parts is my mother,” and revealed that she “wanted to start with my mother’s story.”
Therefore, there is currently no evidence to suggest that Tang Wei portrays the aforementioned missing person from Jeju in the MV, nor is there any evidence that the song or MV was created with the missing person case as its background.
As for the claim of “wearing the same clothes,” the timeline also completely contradicts it. IU appeared in Hyori's Homestay wearing a purple Nerdy tracksuit, which aired in 2017, while Heo went missing in December 2020. Furthermore, the purple clothing mentioned in the conspiracy theory post was what the missing person wore in a past identification photo, not what they wore at the time of disappearance. There is currently no evidence to prove that this clothing is the same as the tracksuit IU wore on the show.
In fact, IU’s agency has long taken legal action against malicious online posts and false rumors.
In February of this year, the agency announced that it had filed civil and criminal lawsuits against 96 individuals who posted malicious comments. Among them, those who spread false rumors, such as the “spy theory” about IU, were fined 5 million won. Additionally, an individual who accused IU of plagiarism and reported her for violating copyright law was ultimately ordered to pay 30 million won in a damages lawsuit.
Furthermore, IU’s side has filed a civil damages lawsuit against users who spread false information and defamed the artist on the overseas platform Threads. They are currently seeking information disclosure through a U.S. court to confirm the identities of these individuals.
The ongoing online attacks against IU, now even dragging a real missing person case with no proven connection to her into a conspiracy theory, have not only sparked heated discussion among netizens but also once again highlight the problems caused by the rampant spread of false information online.
