Doctor Heo Yang-im returns to medical practice amid legal battle with ex-husband

Family medicine specialist Heo Yang-im announced on the 14th that she will produce diet-themed content to demonstrate her professional expertise. This move follows a legal dispute with her ex-husband, Ko Ji-yong, who filed a court injunction last month regarding visitation rights and the use of their son's images.

Family medicine specialist Heo Yang-im has restarted her medical activities, announcing plans to create content based on public concerns regarding dieting. She declared her intention to "clearly show my professional side" by directly addressing public inquiries and personal experiences shared by others regarding weight loss processes. This move to communicate with the public through her area of expertise comes as controversies surrounding her private life continue.

On the 14th, Heo announced the production of diet-themed content via her social media. She requested that people send in their concerns, questions, or personal diet experiences. She emphasized that she would use these stories to "clearly show my professional side," moving beyond unilateral information delivery to incorporate actual public experiences and questions into her content.

Heo's actions have drawn attention because the legal battle with her ex-husband, Ko Ji-yong, has recently come to light. Ko Ji-yong, who debuted with SECHSKIES in 1997, has been active as a businessman following the group's disbandment. The two married in 2013 and had a son, Seung-jae, the following year. They gained public affection when they appeared together as a family on the KBS2 variety program "The Return of Superman" in 2017. However, it was belatedly revealed this past July that the couple had already divorced approximately two years ago.

Since then, the core of the conflict has shifted to child support and visitation rights. Ko Ji-yong's side stated that they filed an injunction with the court on the 16th of last month, demanding the fulfillment of visitation rights and a ban on posting photos and videos of their son. Ko's side claims he has only met his son six times in the approximately two years since the divorce and alleges that the son's photos and videos are being used for hospital promotions. These issues were raised by Ko's side, and the facts and points of contention require clarification through a court ruling.

Ko Ji-yong also stated that he has suffered serious health problems since the divorce. He claimed that after a mutual divorce on April 24, 2024, he was transported to a hospital in critical condition on May 9 of the same year, and subsequently faced life-threatening situations during several hospitalizations over the following two years. He also noted that while there was a period when he could not pay child support on time, he has been paying it faithfully since August of last year. Ko's explanations regarding his deteriorating health and child support payments form another pillar of the current dispute.

Heo Yang-im expressed a different position regarding the visitation issue. She explained that she has already filed a petition for a visitation trial with the court, following Ko Ji-yong's recent claim that she is unfairly restricting his visitation rights with Seung-jae. She stated her intention to proceed with visitation faithfully in accordance with the future court decision. As both sides are presenting different claims regarding the visitation issue, it is difficult to determine the full scope of the conflict based solely on one side's position.

Meanwhile, interest has continued as it was revealed that Seung-jae's account was suddenly deleted. With the privacy of the family and the issue of disclosing the child's photos and videos emerging as points of contention in the legal dispute, attention is also focused on the background of the account deletion. However, the specific reason for the deletion cannot be confirmed based on the information made public.

As the legal dispute continues, Heo Yang-im is attempting to re-emphasize her identity as a specialist through her diet content. Separately from the family issues where the two sides' claims clash, attention is focused on how her announced content will address public concerns and demonstrate her expertise. However, the conflict surrounding child support and visitation rights must be monitored by distinguishing between the claims of the parties involved and the judgment of the court.

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