Seo Taiji & Lee Ji Ah: Netizens use detective skills to investigate relationship

Although Seo Taiji's and Lee Ji Ah's respective legal teams aren't due back in court for a while, netizens are busily making up for lost time by digging for more details about the divorce that has quickly become the talk of the nation. Since we've last updated you (original article, update 1, official statement from KeyEast, statement from Jung Woo Sung), more substantive information has been released. === 1. Bae Yong Joon's manager and Seo Taiji's former manager are brothers. Recently, it was discovered that Bae Yong Joon's manager, Song Il Hyun, is the brother of Seo Taiji's former manager (and now working at his brother's company),�Song Gyun Hyung. They were both working for their respective clients when Lee Ji Ah first made her television appearance in a cellphone CF in 2004. This connection may explain why Lee Ji Ah (or Kim Sang Eun) was able to score a role not only in the CF with Bae Yong Joon in 2004, but then land the lead role in the historical drama, "The Legend of the First King's Four Gods" (Tae Wang Sa Shin Gi) as Sujini, despite being a complete newcomer. This also flies in the face of Bae Yong Joon's earlier assertions that he had no knowledge of the connection between Lee Ji Ah and Seo Taiji.

2. A home in Beverly Hills? You read it right - reporters have found what might have been the home of the (once) married couple! Court papers listed an address and phone number that was tracked to a small, one-story home in Beverly Hills. Check out the Google Maps pictures for yourself below!

3. A pre-debut picture of Lee Ji Ah surfaces (finally!)? Now that netizens know Lee Ji Ah's true name, Kim Sang Eun, they were able to find an elementary school picture, which you can see below. Apparently, Kim Sang Eun�went to Joong Dae Elementary School and Ga Won Middle School in Songpa-gu, Seoul, before moving to the United States.�Netizens are divided as to whether this is truly her - do you think this looks like Lee Ji Ah?

4. www.lee-zia.com & www.seojinyo.com Netizens have quickly put together a site dedicated to digging up information about Lee Ji Ah, called lee-zia.com. One of the many Lee Ji Ah related topics it deals with is the ever popular "Is Lee Ji Ah an alien?" rumor. Before anyone gets confused, this somewhat inane-sounding rumor only holds credence because: there's an utter dearth of information available about her, and she has a laundry list of unexpected talents, like fluency in Japanese and English, bass guitar skills (although now we might know where that came from), and she's a skilled horseback rider. Other netizens commented, "How quickly netizens like to make these things~ it's truly amazing!", "I'm curious about her daily life not her graduation picture", and "I've already read all those things. We want some more fun things."

Another site, www.seojinyo.com (acronym for "We Want the Truth from Seo Taiji") has also cropped up, with the similar mission of fact-finding.

5. Hindsight is 20/20... Netizens have been going back, trying to find where they may have missed clues that Lee Ji Ah was married to Korea's most famous celebrity. One particular detail that's been drawing attention is Lee Ji Ah's dress at the 2007 MBC Drama Awards, which has the words "Lee Jia Toes" written in flowing cursive. Spelled backwards, minus the l, it reads "Seo tai jee", or "Seo Tai Ji". However, if Seo Taiji's party is correct, they divorced in 2006 - which makes little sense. Check out the picture - what do you think? [caption id="attachment_262981" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Leejiatoes = Seo Taiji?"][/caption]

Secondly, fans are also suspicious of Lee Ji Ah's behavior. On one hand, they claim, she refused to comment on her education controversy (she claimed she graduated from Pasadena Art Center College of Design, but did not) for fear of revealing too much information.�But on the other hand, they say, her motives for attending Seo Taiji's 2009 concert in Seoul are strange. According to fan accounts, during the concert, she yelled, "I love you, I love you!" - in essence, not really doing much to protect their secret relationship. Her management responded, "She did go to his concert. However, their relationship now is not as good as it was then." Thirdly, while she was on O'live's "The Show", she filmed part of the episode in a well-known cafe that was known to be owned by Seo Taiji's company, and even mentioned that the picture he uploaded onto his website in September of 2009 was her mascot, and then drew it. Again, netizens are now questioning her behavior, commenting, "In 2009, she had got her divorce like she wanted to but she keeps circling around him like she still had feelings for him", "She could've have just quietly watched his concert like the others, but she looks like she was crazy to let everyone know about her existence", and "I don't understand if she just enjoys thrills or rioting against Seo Taiji." 6. Why is Lee Ji Ah only asking for 16%? Netizens are estimating that Seo Taiji's net worth is in the neighborhood of $30 to $40 million USD. Here's how they broke down the math: he's the owner of the most expensive building in Seoul, located in the ritzy Gangnam-gu district, worth $20 million USD. He also owns a $2.7 million USD home in Pyoungchang-dong, Seoul. Then, they added the album sales of Seo Taiji and the Boys, which total over 7 million copies from 1992 up to 1995, and his 1998 and 2000 solo albums also sold over a million copies a piece - and that rings in at about $18.5 million USD. Given his wealth, why is Lee Ji Ah only asking for 16% of Seo Taiji's total assets ($5 million USD)? === The above issues are but a small sampling of the stories that have been generated by the Korean press about the divorce proceedings. Stay tuned as more details emerge! Sources: Sports Korea via Nate, Nikkan Sports via Daum, �Nikkan Sports via Joins MSN, Sports Chosun via Daum, TV Report via Nate (1, 2), Hollywood News via Nate