Lee Seung-gi's Luxury Villa Dispute Turns Uglier as Cha Ga-won's Lawyer Threatens More Exposés

The dispute between singer-actor Lee Seung-gi and Cha Ga-won — chairman of PIAC Group and head of One Hundred — over a luxury villa lease has grown significantly messier, with Cha's legal counsel going public with alleged text messages and teasing further disclosures.

On the 8th, attorney Hyeon Dong-yeop — who represents One Hundred — posted a preview video to his YouTube channel 'Hyeon Dong-yeop's Highest Guard' titled 'The Secret of MBC and Lee Seung-gi's Hannam-dong Jeonse Fraud.' The full video is set to drop on the 11th.

In the preview, Hyeon claims the jeonse fraud allegations raised on MBC's *PD Notebook* are not fraud at all but rather arguments constructed to justify terminating an exclusive contract. He then displays messages he says were sent by Lee Seung-gi, including: 'Thank you for getting me into La Nuvo, Chairman,' 'Living together like this gives me a real sense of stability,' 'I've finally fully moved into La Nuvo,' and 'I really love the place.'

Hyeon also claims Lee sent messages about a property appraisal, including 'Do I not need to worry about the appraisal?' and 'Hope the appraisal goes smoothly.' Hyeon countered the *PD Notebook* framing directly: 'The claim is that Lee Seung-gi, Cha Ga-won, and Wando Fisheries Cooperative are co-perpetrators of jeonse fraud — I have no idea where the fraud is supposed to be.'

The attorney added that Cha's phone had been forensically examined and that additional material would be released. 'There is a lot of content that will turn the entertainment industry upside down,' he said. 'I will release it one by one, starting with Lee Seung-gi.'

The dispute traces back to a May 2nd episode of MBC's *PD Notebook* titled 'MC Mong, the Chairman, and K-pop's Trade Secrets,' which raised multiple allegations about Cha Ga-won's management of One Hundred and examined the jeonse contract for La Nuvo, a high-end villa complex in Hannam-dong, Seoul. In that broadcast, Lee Seung-gi said Cha encouraged him to move in to live nearby, then failed to finalize the deposit amount — citing appraisals — before demanding a figure more than three times higher than originally discussed after Lee had already moved in. Lee also said Cha's promise to cover loan interest was never honored.

Cha's side has said Lee is 'mistaken about the facts,' while Lee's side has said it 'cannot accept any request for corrections.' The full video from Hyeon on the 11th is expected to define the next phase of the dispute.

Jeonse (전세) is a Korean lease arrangement where a tenant pays a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent; disputes over deposit amounts and appraisals are common flashpoints in Korean real estate litigation.

a lump-sum deposit lease system at the center of Lee Seung-gi's dispute with his former chairman