In Korea, award-winning “Squid Game” star O Yeong-su has been charged with sexual misconduct.
According to AFP, the 78-year-old was released without charge after being accused of inappropriately touching a woman’s body in 2017.
In December 2021, the woman filed a complaint against Yeong-su. The case was closed by police in April, but it was reopened after the alleged victim requested that it be investigated further.
According to the local Yonhap news agency, Yeong-su denied the allegations when questioned by authorities.
The actor — who won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for his breakout role as Oh Il-nam in the Netflix hit — has released a statement about the allegations.
“I just held her hand to guide the way around the lake,” O told Korean news broadcaster JTBC. “I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn’t make a fuss about it but it doesn’t mean that I admit the charges.”
An official from the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office told AFP that everything reported by local media about the veteran actor of more than 50 years “is not factually incorrect.”
The Korean ministry of culture also recently pulled a government TV commercial featuring Yeong-su off air after the indictment.
Meanwhile, the streamer’s highly popular survival drama is coming back for season two in the future.
Writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed the news in an interview with the Associated Press last year.
Hwang said, “There’s been so much pressure, so much demand and so much love for a second season. So I almost feel like you leave us no choice!”