'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQb/2gAIAQEAAAAAFrP/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oACAECEAAAAEf/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAEDEAAAAB//xAAhEAABBAAGAwAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQMEBQAGBxESIhYkgv/aAAgBAQABPwCyztb+O6oSfS2ZuGoUbeKHQTMw+ujQ4odRbIqOuV6FAV1YzfLgCim/FMf/xAAVEQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAP/aAAgBAgEBPwAC/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQD/2gAIAQMBAT8AW//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In the last couple of days, the K-drama has been engulfed by a scandal, and actor Kim Seon Ho has somehow found himself in the middle of it.
On October 17, an anonymous woman 'A' took to a popular online forum to accuse Actor 'K, 'who has recently been raised to stardom,' of forcing her to get an abortion. The woman claimed to be the actor's ex-girlfriend, and she was persuaded by a false promise of marriage.
As soon as the accusations were made public, the internet became rife with speculation as to the identity of Actor K. Given the hints in 'A's' testimony, the surprising prime candidate was Kim Seon Ho.
'A's' testimony was believed by several netizens to be about Kim Seon Ho
The poster 'A' introduced herself as actor K's ex-girlfriend and claimed they broke up four months ago. Actor 'K' allegedly only recently became famous.
'A' revealed that she had become pregnant after having unprotected intercourse. 'A' claims that ever since childhood, she was told that her getting pregnant would be unlikely, given her weakness, and thus she did not want an abortion. On revealing the news of the pregnancy to 'K,' though, the actor allegedly insisted on 'A' getting an abortion. 'A' in her testimony, claimed that 'K' said,
"If you give birth now, I have to pay 900 million KRW in damages but I don't have money right now. What if you jeopardize my parents as well? Let's move in together next year."
'K' allegedly also promised to marry 'A' in the next four years, promising to have a child once they are wedded and living together.
“If this child is born now, I think I will resent the child, so you can do whatever you want. He can't love a child," he threatened. Even with tears in his eyes, he made reliable promises through marriage, parental introductions, and false acting. Then he said, 'The child won't be born now, but I originally thought 4 years from now, but I will marry you in exactly 2 years.I made a promise to introduce myself to my parents and to start living together next year.'
After the abortion, though, alleges 'A', actor 'K' went through a complete change of heart, becoming violent.
"He sent me 2 million KRW for abortion procedures. I thought I would share I have been in and out of the hospital so I sent him pictures of receipts and showed how I spent that money. He then flipped out like a mad man saying if I was trying to make him feel guilty. He also started to make a big deal out of something minimal and threaten me."
'A' has also claimed that the actor's on-screen persona is drastically different from his real-life one and that his "kind and good-natured" image was a farce. 'A' revealed that the actor 'K' had recently come under fire for yelling on a TV show and that that was genuine side.
Contrary to the image on TV, he was cold and ungrateful. He used to curse at the people he worked with every day, and he seemed to understand why he had so few friends.The senior actors whom I admired on TV also said they were too bad.
'K' allegedly broke up with 'A' over a phone call citing his popularity and finances as the reason. According to 'A', the actor was obsessed with fame and money.
He seems to do it because he really loves acting, but because of his difficult childhood, his obsession with money is enormous and star disease in the eyes of others, he took for granted the sacrifice of the people around him because of his obsession with success.
Several readers of the post asked 'A' for evidence of the relationship and other claims to which she said,
"Many of you have been requesting pictures, and it's not hard. There are many pictures. I have kept them in private just because of possible legal issues. [omitted] I have been suffering in guilt and pain for over a year and I didn't hastily decide to write this."
Ever since this testimony was made public, the internet went hunting for the identity of this unnamed actor. The hints given by 'A' were that 'K' had only recently become super successful, he had an older brother who accompanied the woman when she went to get an abortion, and that he had recently lost his cool on a variety show.
While the woman did not confirm whether the 'K' was the actor's name or just a random letter used for identification, several netizens seemed to believe it was the former. Although Kim Seon Ho does not have a brother, and neither can be considered only recently popular, most of the internet then concluded that the actor in question is Kim Seon Ho.
Kim Seon Ho's fandomthreaten to take legal action
While the Hometown Cha-cha-cha actor's agency Salt Entertainment has not yet issued a statement, fans of Kim Seon Ho have pledged their solidarity with the actor.
On October 18, a fan posted on the online forum DC Inside male celebrity gallery, stating,
"There is currently a lot of speculation about actor Kim Seon ho, and there is no way we can help but feel miserable, so we are issuing an official statement. Kim Seon ho has emphasized that he needs to take care of himself not only in acting, but also in terms of personality and disposition. He stood in front of the public in a consistent manner, keeping his promise unchanged until now.d"
The post's writer went on to state that legal action will be taken against those who continue these allegedly false rumors and engage in witch-hunting.
"The fans of Kim Seon Ho announce that they will take all possible legal measures, including criminal charges and civil damages, without any leniency or tolerance, with those spreading false facts to the end and are continuously monitoring those who demean his personality with serious swear words and insulting remarks," they added. "Please immediately stop any act that damages actor Kim Seon Ho's reputation by creating or distributing false facts, and furthermore, and delete all existing defamation posts."
Fans of the actor have also tried to get Salt Entertainment to issue a statement rubbishing these claims but to no avail. So far, the agency has not done anything.
Several fans, though, have posted supportive tweets in favour of the actor.
While no hard evidence is available as of now, several of the many brands Kim Seon Ho worked with have already started deleting posts featuring the actor. Brands like Food Bucket, Domino's, and Canon have removed advertisements and Instagram posts featuring the actor.
Domino's Pizza, which also had an extensive advertisement on the last episode of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, set the ad featuring the actor on private on the company's official YouTube channel.
An insider from a brand which recently finished working with Kim Seon Ho stated that,
"We just found out about the rumor. We are desperately hoping it to be false. A pure and positive image is the key, but if this turns out to be true, it will be detrimental to us. We will be carefully watching how it unfolds but we are indeed very shocked."
Many netizens have claimed that when posting comments related to the scandal on Kim Seon Ho's Instagram post, the comments are getting taken down, hinting at Salt Entertainment's awareness of the unfolding scandal.
With the Internet full of wannabe sleuths, every second Salt Entertainment maintains silence, the worse it becomes for the actor. While Kim Seon Ho deserves to be punished if these accusations have weight to them and are, in fact, about him, this scandal could potentially end the actor's career even without confirmation.
