Public Figure Falls Back to Being Not So Great Archive 2012

When a Public Figure falls back to being a Private Citizen

May 14, 2012

Unicorn Grease staff here again. It’s been a slow month and a half, but it’s necessary to set some things right. First and thus, we aren’t of any relation to the people posting on WordPress (former members of a cult) about the alleged cult in California. Secondly, we find the audacity of this minor cult’s members to be both disturbing and hilariously misguided. It’s interesting that there is a cult in the firs place. That makes it note worthy.

By definition, a public figure is a celebrity, community leader, company leader, or elected official or otherwise famous person who had garnished an amount of fame and riches through a larger group.

According to the laws if libel and slander, defamation suit and only be achieved if actual malice is detected, and libel is printed and slander is spoken.  Ironically, a public figure, who by nature of fame is open to scrutiny, is not able to sue for libel and slander. They have become public and therefore are exempt from it, and vise versa.

By definition, a private citizen is someone without any notoriety who has no elective power, no popular base, and is not famous through any public or official means. A private citizen may due for libel or slander, as they may prove actual malice because it could affect their income or livelihood.

On other words, rich and famous people are not protected. They could sue others but it is usually settled out of court.

This curious cult leader, Kyung Ae, alias Tae Yun Kim, is over 65, was at one time considered a public figure, in around 1992 to 2004, and had a brief respite in 2005. She would not be considered this anymore, and would be a private citizen, were she not still claiming to be a public figure. 

Thus because she does, she cannot stop critics of her on the internet. To do so is considered fraud. She could make up a YouTube based rebuttal with weeping members talking about how awesome she really is, and the mean internet trolls have defamed her. But she likely will not go that far.

Our research indicates an overactive one shot school located in Fremont, no other schools. Now let us put up some realistic stats about the fame aspects. American Tae Kwon Do Center has the potential to become a franchise like West Coast did, do movies, expand with multiple schools, and become very popular. ATC became Jung SuWon (1990) and remained thus. 

They had only one school, stable for 19 years, and then moved to a location for 4 more, and then to their current location, for over 5 years. They did not promote many instructors. Most of the staff are only recently masters, as of around 2005. They are long time students. That is nice for them. But really they should have gone on to run their own schools. Maybe their leader never wished to expand, but it is a decision that has cost them her rise to fame, or at least a longer stay at it.

JSW cannot therefore be considered a success at all. It has one school. They have no public IPO. Maybe Lighthouse (a private company, no IPO) has some fame, but not JSW.

So when you find their instructors claiming all manner of awards and things on the net, and how awesome their leader is, really she is small business. Sure she had a ‘growing’; computer company, but it’s still small.

West Coast TDK for instance has thousands of active students in several schools all over the west. They are far larger. They also are not a cult. They don’t need to have their own insiders write fake reviews.

Jung SuWon had at most 4,000 students…over 27 years, and never had more than 200 at any given time in class. JSW was essentially a small one shot school even in their highest peak of students, about 140 in the 1996-98 time period, when really she was so popular she had national news media, a TV program (cable access only) and whatnot.

So this little school has impacted the internet far larger than it should have. They have ex students doing major web site traffic. They have current students doing reviews and glowing letters. It’s just nuts how completely far afield they are. On both sides.

That cable show only actually aired at most 2 seasons (The Tae Yun Kim/Time and Place shows),. It’s nothing to brag about. They were short seasons. They made no DVD releases. Ironically the only footage they have up is of Rudy (the football guy) who has long since been deposed for being a fraud.

So do your homework before getting in with these people. Just make sure the hype isn’t getting to you. Sure we’d advise you not get in with them, but you can ignore it. It’s a free country. But they claim to be public figures. So it’s fair game.