The latest in the sexual harassment and sexual assault cases in Korean entertainment involve actor Han Jae Young, CEO Kim Young Soo, photographer Rotta, director Lee Hae Young, and an anonymous ballad group member.
——
Using her real name and photo, a woman came forward to tell her story of sexual harassment at the hands of actor Han Jae Young and especially CEO of Theater Shinhwa, Kim Young Soo.
On March 4, a woman, hereafter referred to as “Park,” used her real name and face on her personal Facebook account and revealed the doings of Theater Shinhwa’s CEO Kim Young Soo and actor Han Jae Young. Park shared that she had entered the theater company in 2010, and worked as one of the youngest members. She shared that she was sexually harassed by CEO Kim Young Soo, who after a few times, brought her to a motel room. When she refused, he became angry and told her that he didn’t know why he had given her so many parts in the play that the theater company was putting on. Shocked, Park eventually confided in senior actors at the theater company, one of whom was Han Jae Young. Han Jae Young sided with the CEO and eventually sexually harassed her as well. She shared that she tried to quit the theater company and had been living in silence, but decided to share these incidents, in alignment with the “Me Too” movement.
The woman updated to say she received an apology from Han Jae Young, though she hadn’t received one from Kim Young Soo yet.
On March 5, Park uploaded another post, where she revealed that she had received an apology from Han Jae Young personally. She stated, “I’m thankful that so many people have shown their sympathy. Although I haven’t received an apology from CEO Kim Young Soo, I did receive an apology from Han Jae Young.” She continued, “I’m thankful that there are so many people who are helping me be brave through the ‘Me Too’ movement.” Park explained that not long after she had uploaded her post, she received a call from the actor at around 6 a.m. and shared, “We talked for over an hour. I cried while talking about how much pain I had been in, and Han Jae Young also cried and apologized. He told me that he would never do such things to another person again, and that he had been young then too. He also told me that he would be releasing a statement of apology today.” She stated that after opening up about Han Jae Young, she wanted to live happily. She also stated that she didn’t think she would be hurt while seeing Han Jae Young acting anymore, and thanked everyone for their attention. On Kim Young Soo, she commented, “The whole situation started because of CEO Kim Young Soo. I was only hurt by Han Jae Young for one day, and nothing happened after that. But I was sexually harassed, threatened, and hurt by Kim Young Soo for several months.”
Since then, both Han Jae Young and Kim Young Soo have released public apologies for their actions, with Kim Young Soo resigning from his position as CEO.
——
After releasing a fittingly sketchy denial of sexually harassing a model, two more models came forward with allegations against Rotta, with both saying they were sexually assaulted by him.
A former model identified as Kim claimed she was sexually assaulted by Rotta around 5 years ago in a motel. She was 18-years-old at the time. Kim stated, “Rotta suggested that we take photos in the motel. Like with a cute party concept but he didn’t take photos. He took hold of me with force and raped me.” Kim stated she wasn’t able to confront Rotta of his crime because she was afraid and ended up quitting her modeling job. According to Kim, she demanded an apology from Rotta after seeing the first reports about his sexual assault but he did not reply. Another alleged victim identified as ‘A’ claims she was sexually assaulted by Rotta when she was 16-years-old. ‘A’ stated, “Rotta told me that he has never met such a young model. And said he and his models have sexual intercourse in agreement.” Both alleged victims stated that they decided to reveal their devastating experience, as they were furious at how Rotta denied the first accusation.
He has not yet responded to these new allegations, but again, this seems to fit the trend of denials being followed up with more victims coming forward. Likely because the type of people to do this kind of thing have been doing it and getting away with it for years.
——
Director Lee Hae Young was accused of sexually harassing another man while on vacation.
The poster had claimed they had gone on a vacation to Gangwon-do with a director ‘A’, Lee Hae Young (who was ‘A’s ex), and Lee Hae Young’s friend ‘C’, and had gotten sexually harassed by Lee Hae Young on that vacation.
In response, Lee Hae Young came out as gay and denied the allegations and has threatened legal action.
This is movie director Lee Hae Young. I saw the recent post directed toward me, and would like to say that the post is completely false. I am a sexual minority. The poster has been continuously threatening me since two years ago by using my sexual identity and popularity as a weapon. After the poster broke up with a friend of mine, they have been threatening not just me, but also my friends, by using threats and lies. Now the harm has gone past my personal life to my public name. My sexual identiy has been revealed without my consent, through force. I will not be just watching as my character is defamed while lies are spread. To protect my rights and my character, I will be taking a strong legal action with the proof I have of the threats and mental anguish I have received until now. I ask for the media to stop reporting unconfirmed things, and I will take all future actions through a law firm.
We don’t know what the truth is, but if anything, we also know that this type of vehement denial doesn’t mean a whole lot either.
——
Another allegation has hit the music industry, though this one remains truly anonymous with the clues only being that it’s the lead vocal of a ballad group. The singer is accused of taking explicit video of the accuser without her consent.
#MeToo news
Victim has come forward stating that she was in a relationship with "A", lead vocal for ballad group
States that "A" had secretly filmed her while she was naked and only learned after
Relationship dates back to 2008 before "A" debutedhttps://t.co/bEwXJGsqqo pic.twitter.com/mCVus5GYjA
— 파룬 (@balloon_wanted) March 5, 2018
More Info:
Victim had feared that the images and films of her would be leaked that she suffered from depression for 8yrs, and had to take medications to help with the trauma/paranoia she was suffering.
2015, 8yrs later, she finally received an apology from the ex-boyfriend
— 파룬 (semi-hiatus) (@balloon_wanted) March 5, 2018
Apology from "A" was just a simple text messaged that read "미안하다" (I'm sorry)
— 파룬 (semi-hiatus) (@balloon_wanted) March 5, 2018
I agree with the people saying it does more damage than not to speculate, as if there’s something to this, then it’ll likely be exposed eventually. Unlike other articles where the journalists give obvious hints, I think this one is truly unknown for now.