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The South Korean entertainment industry is riddled with scandals, with both K-pop idols and K-drama actors finding themselves in irredeemable controversies that mark the end of their flourishing careers.
One of the most famous celebrity scandals that emerged out of South Korea was the "Burning Sun scandal," where BIGBANG’s Seungri was accused and jailed for his participation in s*x trafficking and embezzlement that happened at the Burning Sun club.
K-drama actors have also found themselves in hot waters due to past bullying and behavioral misconduct cases that came to light after they achieved mainstream popularity. This often leads to a total shutdown of their career aspirations as their contracts with brands, as well as dramas and movies, are abruptly ended to avoid the negative publicity the actor brings with themselves.
School bullying, s*xual violence, and other K-drama scandals that tarnished the reputation of the South Korean entertainment industry
1) Seo Ye-ji
The It’s Okay Not to Be Okay actress Seo Ye-ji’s life was turned upside down when she got caught up in a slew of controversies. She was accused of being a school bully by a former classmate, which was strongly refuted by her agency. However, the K-drama actress was also in hot waters for giving contradictory statements about her time spent as a student in Spain, which led knetz (Korean netizens) to believe that she was lying about her educational background.
To make matters worse, she also got into an attitude scandal when an anonymous staffer accused her of verbally abusing her on the sets of It’s Okay Not to Be Okay and that the actress checked the phones of her staff regularly to keep them from recording evidence. However, another staff member, who had worked with her for over five years, came to her defense, refuting these claims.
The worst scandal she got into was her being accused of controlling her now ex-boyfriend, Kim Jung-hyun’s behavior, by asking him to stay aloof and away from the female leads paired opposite him and to not do intimate scenes with them. The event also caused Jung-hyun to get embroiled in an attitude scandal during a press conference for his show Time.
2) Ji-soo
K-drama actor Ji-soo, who rose to popularity because of his role in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, was forced to go on hiatus after his history of severe school bullying and s*xual violence came to light.
The letter published by a former schoolmate details the violent acts committed against him and many other students by Ji-soo. Although the company denied the s*xual violence claims, the actor has apologized for his past delinquent behavior. For this reason, he was even fired from a drama he was working on at the time.
3) Han Ji-sun
K-drama actress Han Ji-sun had to pay a heavy price for physically assaulting a taxi driver. In 2019 the news broke while she was filming for the show The Secret Life of My Secretary. Following this, she eventually had to step down from her role because of her tarnished reputation. Although the actress tried apologizing to the taxi driver, public opinion did not sway in her favor, and the star has not been in any K-drama roles ever since.
4) Lee Kyung-young
A terrible case of using power and influence was unearthed in the South Korean entertainment industry when K-drama actor Lee Kyung-young was found guilty of engaging in underage pr*stitution in 2002.
He used his seniority in the industry to manipulate underage actresses and aspirants to engage in s*xual activities with him in exchange for a big break in the acting field. He was jailed for 10 months and was banned from all broadcasting channels until 2014 when MBC lifted the ban against him.
5) Jo Hyung-ki
Comedian-actor Jo Hyung-ki is nicknamed “Killer Jo” because he killed a woman in her 30s while driving under the influence of alcohol in 1999. The case grew more complicated when he decided to dispose of her body to conceal his crime.
However, he was caught red-handed as he fell asleep in his car near the area where he had hidden the body. Jo Hyung-ki served jail time for a year and soon started appearing in dramas immediately after release. His release to date is considered a highly controversial case.
In related news, one of the most recent cases involves the Squid Game actor Oh Young-soo’s act of indecent assault in 2017 that came to light in 2021 when the woman assaulted filed a complaint against him.
