On September 19, JYP Entertainment released a statement regarding the debt lawsuit of TWICE's Nayeon.

Recently, there was a lawsuit against Nayeon as an individual claimed that Nayeon was indebted to him. The individual, identified as Mr. A, filed a lawsuit against Nayeon and her mother in January last year at the Seoul Eastern District Court's 13th Civil Affairs Division. 

The individual, rumored to be the ex-lover of Nayeon's mother, alleged that the idol had borrowed a total of 600 million KRW (~451,680 USD) during her trainee days. He claimed that Nayeon and her mother promised to pay him back once Nayeon's career had kicked off. He accused Nayeon and her mother of not keeping the promise they made to him. 

This amount comprised from monthly rent, loans, tuition fees, and communication expenses spread over around 12 years. Nevertheless, the court found insufficient evidence to deem this as a stand-alone loan with a lawful obligation of repayment.

After hearing the lawsuit news, many netizens took to popular online communities, such as Instiz, to leave their opinions on the matter. 

Many commented, "I don't know, if there was no promise that they would repay, but they made a verbal agreement to repay him. He even brought it to court...I feel bad for the guy and it was foolish of him. That's why you can't just recklessly give away money," "If they were in a defacto-marriage, then he shouldn't be entitled to it but if it was just a romantic relationship, shouldn't Nayeon and her mom repay him? It's 600 million KRW over 12 years, that's almost 50 million KRW (`37,639 USD) per year!" "I don't think it's an issue with the law but morals..." "Even if it's a defacto-marriage-like relationship, isn't it normal to give back if you've received support for 12 years? The whole defacto-marriage thing is speculative from the start, but if they received 600 million KRW in assistance and still don't give back anything after becoming successful, from the man's perspective, it would naturally raise questions," and "The man didn't file a lawsuit for several years even when TWICE debuted and became very popular. So it seems like the recent lawsuit could have stemmed from the sense of resentment thinking 'Does she even have a speck of gratitude?' If he was so desperate for money that he needed to collect the entire 600 million KRW, it might have been difficult for him to even provide that much over the twelve years. I think the fact that he didn't appeal shows that his purpose was to bring attention to his issue due to his resentment or disappointment, rather than his dire need for money."