Just the facts…and my usual comments.
1. An unborn baby was killed.
Regardless of who the parents were, let’s focus on the real tragedy here. A human life was deemed disposable because of:
900 million won (or $765,000),
a nascent stardom in showbiz,
and a (broken) promise of marriage.
Think about that.
We all know that Korean culture is unique in the world for counting age differently. When a Korean baby is born, he/she turns one year old already. That tells us how much Koreans respect life in the womb. They know that it’s a baby — a human being! — living and growing inside the mother’s body.
Now, whoever this anonymous/not-so-anonymous Father “K” is, his career in showbiz may or may not end because of this tragedy.
If you believe in karma, cosmic justice, just desserts, or retribution, then K’s career should be aborted as well. But given the fans’ level of stupidity, delusion, and rabidity (a lethal mix, I daresay), his career may very well continue to thrive. Does Seungri have fans? Does Mickey/Yoochun have fans? Does Kim Hyun-Joong have fans? This K will still have fans.
But keep this cardinal fact in mind when sympathizing or defending the actions of this anonymous K. The real victim here is the unborn baby. He/she was killed because he/she was inconvenient to K. You have to wonder: if K can do this to an innocent and defenseless human being, what more can he do?
2. Kim Seon Ho’s agency, Salt Entertainment, released a statement.
“Hello.
This is Kim Seon Ho’s agency Salt Entertainment.
We sincerely apologize for not having been able to issue a quicker response.
We are currently checking the factual grounds of the anonymous post.
As the facts have not been cleared up yet, we earnestly ask you to wait a bit longer.
We apologize for worrying you with an unpleasant issue.”Source: https://www.soompi.com/kim-seon-hos-agency-issues-brief-statement-after-actor-is-embroiled-in-rumors
@miracle23 gave us more details. She posted:
The news broke last night when hccc was aired. The girl posted at around 5 pm but the news portal i.e. Busan Ilbo reported at 9.46 pm. DC gallery and qoo.net were buzz with it. The girl’s hint was pretty specific towards him. Him, his agency and all the staff are nowhere to be found, atm. 😑
Hometown Cha Cha Cha aired on Sunday, but the actor’s agency didn’t release a statement until Tuesday.
My comment:
a. This is a simple “yes” or “no” case. If we’re doing the algorithm of Woong from “Yumi’s Cells,” the truth should come out easily.
Do you know this woman? Yes or no.
If you know this woman, were you sexually active? Yes or no.
If you were sexually active, did you use condoms or any form of contraception? Yes or no.
Did you impregnate her? Yes or no.
Did you tell her to abort the baby because of… (go through the woman “A”s list)? Yes or no.
And so on.
The delay in verification gives the impression that actor or the agency are negotiating with the lady in question for damage control.
b. There’s a need for quick resolution here because this actor parlays his boyish looks into a pure, innocent, and sincere suitor in romcoms. The longer the agency delays, the more the agency squanders his “good boy” image. In their case, time is money.
c. Just apologize. In general, people are willing to forgive.
3. What’s the controversy?
To most people, that’s the controversy in a nutshell. His image of a “good boy” was wrecked by an anonymous poster.
I’ll let the other sites explain it.
Here’s the skinny from soompi. I screenshot it, but go ahead and check the site yourself.
Source: https://www.soompi.com/kim-seon-hos-agency-issues-brief-statement-after-actor-is-embroiled-in-rumors
Because we cross-check from other sources, here’s a screenshot of an article from the Times of India.
source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
And here’s a screenshot from allkpop, one of the first sites to break the news.
source: allkpop
Thanks, @nrllee, for breaking the news to us here on this blog.
My comments:
a. I wanted to get a full translation of the woman’s post because she supposedly also mentioned a “hyung” who accompanied her to abortion clinic. KSH’s fans pointed out that KSH is an only child. However, the term “hyung” is also used by a man to refer to a senior male friend.
b. In the allkpop article, the woman “A” mentioned a TV show where the actor supposedly screamed. It’s generally believed that she was referring to 2Days, 1Night episode. I checked Viki. It’s the 66th episode.
Four members of the group, Moon Se-yoon, Dindin, Kim Jong Min, and KSH had a tough night sleeping on rough terrain in windy conditions. Thinking that they would be given a break the following morning, they learned that the morning mission was to “leave the place on their own.”
The hitch was – they were on a deserted island. Lol.
KSH burst out with a loud “Yah!” He asked the director, “What are you doing right now? What are you doing first thing in the morning?” He removed his hat.
That struck me as surprising me because he seldom had an outburst on the show. I told you, right? He was “too bland” for me. I said that he was too conscious of his goody-two-shoes image. Now, this woman “A” is confirming my suspicion that his natural self is different from his persona on tv.
Anyway…
The other two members, Seyoon and Dindin, crowded him as he walked toward the director. When I first watched it, it struck me that Dindin had his arm out as if to ward him off from approaching the director, and that Seyoon used his bulky body to block him off. They were “intercepting” him.
But they were joking as usual. “Let’s just bury her.” “Hey, grab her!”
So when KSH approached the director, grumbling, “I’m telling you. My back really hurts right now!” I dismissed his action as him over-reacting.
To me, all four of them were tired and flabbergasted by the director’s task for them. But he was the only one who thought it was a good idea to confront the director. He only sounded funny because the three other guys turned the scenario into a joke. But on his own, he did appear as if he was confronting the director’s decision — like the netizens complained.
Moon Seyoon told him to calm down and the director raised both her hands up. They moved backwards.
The scene was edited after that, because the next thing we knew he had his hat back on again.
c. I warned you about him. 🙂 When I first saw him on “100 Days, My Prince,” I said he smiled too much. Then, in “Start Up,” I again told you that I didn’t like the actor.
But it didn’t help either that his character on the drama “Start Up” was a fake, too. His character professed to be grateful for all the things the grandmother did for him, but he never once went out of his way to give even a small token of gratitude to her. (I told you about the shoes, didn’t I?)
The biggest turn-off were his virulent fans on Twitter and other social media who harassed viewers who shipped the real OTP.
My aversion for him solidified while watching him on “2Days, 1Night.” He slacked off in the games, and he smiled all the time. I thought he was getting away easily because the director and writer were female, and he was the “face” of the show. The editing often highlighted how good-looking he was. Meanwhile, Moon Se-yoon, Dindin, and my favorite Kim Jong Min pulled their weight (and his) to make the show hilarious and unpredictable. To me, their sincerity as performers is the most noticeable because they’re willing to break their “image” to entertain viewers during these trying times.
d. As for Hometown Cha Cha Cha, I tried to give him a break.
But after a few episodes, I knew I was right: he was a C+ actor who relied on aegyo because he didn’t have a depth of range in acting. And what made it intolerable was that the writer was pandering to him. To me, she was his fangirl.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t delude myself into thinking that he was the affable Chief Hong. I could envision other actors doing a stellar job. If he had been removed from the drama (like Jisoo was in “The River Where the Moon Rises), he could have been replaced by a stronger actor. In my book, a good script didn’t have to depend on big name actors and their fandoms.
But fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), this woman “A” waited for the drama to finish before airing their dirty laundry online.
4. The advertisers that cancelled the actor:
Domino’s Pizza, Korea
Canon, Korea
Food Bucket
11th Street
Nau
La Roche
Source: koalasplayground.com
Yes, it’s a pity that his popularity might fizzle out. But on the grand scheme of things, he still has an opportunity to make something good happen out of this debased situation. If he turns out wrongly accused, then he can win the Baeksang award this year. (whoops! Didn’t he win this last year with that Seo Ye Ji?) If he’s guilty, then he can exile himself from K-entertainment or keep scheduling fan-meets outside of South Korea.
But the aborted baby? He/she had no such opportunity because his/her fundamental right to life was denied for — how much was it again? — 900 million won.
That’s the real tragedy here.
Firstly, this is the full translation by Koreaboo:
https://www.koreaboo.com/news/gaslighting-forced-abortion-accusations-actor-k-taking-internet-full-translations/
Secondly, yes I admit of not getting into his good boy looks nor his acting spectrum, whatever it may be. I think I only saw him in Chief Kim and his face never did stay in my mind. He is among those I will not spend time watching their projects. After the news broke, reading through dc gallery, seeing his many faces…. I can only say it kinda creeps me out.🤧
This might as well be false accusation but the way his agency and he, himself, are handling it speaks volume. Damage control is ongoing, it seems. I honestly did not know he has that many CFs under his belt. 🤯 I can’t imagine the penalty coming his way. If this story is true, then he got served by karma. Just like how he used his ads income as a reason to do what he did to the girl, she made him get a taste of his own medicine. I am not gonna talk about the abortion and the gaslighting that involved. It is just so 😑😑😑… this K, whoever he is, I hope will get served for what he did to the unborn child, and the girl.
P/S: An ex entertainment reporter who is now a ytber was the one who confirmed that K is KSH. He stated the agency and media ppl already knew about this ex-gf issue since Sept. when they were researching about him but it was covered up. He said her story is mostly consistent with their findings. If his claimed is false, this reporter risked being brought to court for defamation, though atm no one in the media is disputing him🤷♀️, not even SALT 🤦🏻♀️.
Hope SALT x KSH will provide further clarification on the matter. If it is not him, say it isn’t so and be done with it.
New facts are coming out that it wasn’t even him— it’s so scary how quickly he’s getting condemned everywhere. His agency defo did him no favors by not denying this outright ASAP. Now sites are claiming that t’s this guy: https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/entertainment/2021/08/03/actor-kim-yong-gun-75-allegedly-forced-girlfriend-36-to-go-for-abortion?fbclid=IwAR0levDcuSBnZLyyKYORksBIlduuZiFkc6uBaMtqOE3Gpx1X1oQHmbvTHSg
No, @MrsRJH1.
The “condemnation” was rather slow compared to other scandals.
For an International kdrama viewer like me, I was waiting on Soompi and other legit non-Korean sites to report on it.
Yes, his agency was at fault. But he was, too. Remember that ruckus over Joseon Exorcist? The lead actor there earned my respects when he came out with his own hand-written letter apologizing for his involvement. He took the lead, and the others followed.
This mess?
KSH is a grownup. One word from him — NO! — would have stopped everything. Why does the agency have to wait for more than 24 hours for verification when it’s a simple yes-or-no issue? Until now, there’s still no denial or confirmation. 😂
If KSH is dissatisfied with his agency’s inaction/slow action, he can go directly to media, or “anonymous sources close to him,” or a third party or a new agency or his personal lawyer, and deny it from there. He’s not a hostage.
The buck stops with him.
Thanks @pkml3. You certainly did a good job in bringing together the various aspects of KSH’s public behaviour, which gives us pause.
I agree that taking so long to do damage control has just increased the damage. It is probably out of control. Whoever K is, KSH ends up looking guilty.
My heart goes out to the child, and all the children who were marginalised and denied even before they were born.
@MrsRJH1, that was another case. Prior ones. The actor then agreed to take responsibility towards his gf during her pregnancy and later once the baby is born. Their court case has settled. The girl is currently focusing on her pregnancy.
@MrsRJH1: Kim Yong Gun issue was resolved a while back already. He admitted that he was panicked after hearing about the pregnancy. But, after discussion with his children, they agreed to keep the baby. I am too lazy to google. You should be able to find out the follow up news after that.
For this news, since KSH and his agency did not come out with denial statement after 2 days plus and with the cancellation of his CFs, that means the news is true. It is just what kind of damage control that they are trying to do behind the scene.
@GB,
In all honesty, I didn’t want to write this post bec I’ve a hands-off policy about actors’ love lives. It’s none of my business.
However, in this case, I want a separate thread so you ladies can enjoy talking about the HCCC finale and focus on it, without having to deal with this ugly “thing.” It was the elephant in the room preventing y’all from discussing the show.
Future discussions on KSH rumors and ongoing fallout will be reserved for this thread. Discussions for HCCC Eps 15 and 16 thread will be for the drama, moving forward. The rest of the cast don’t deserve their shining moments taken away from them.
Also, it’s a teachable moment to remind us what’s important here.
Only watched 100 Days My Prince and I don’t even remember him. He was so hyped in other dramas but never had the chance to watch those. I tried watching episode 1 of HTCCC but… anyway..whatever the truth I agree with your post. An innocent baby was killed. His fans are saying it takes two to tango ergo it was as much the girl’s fault for aborting the child. She was not forced. But then was given money to go to hospital. Sometimes I
wonder how deluded fans are toward their oppa.
Again I don’t know much about KSH. I am not a fan.
Once again you’re insights/perception of the real problem / situation is 👍…something fangirls should have.
mslee waiving here😊
Very true @packmule3 and @ps— it’s probably only my limited POV since I heard murmurs of it this morning and then saw him being cancelled etc so it only felt sudden to me. I realize now that this was brewing for several days now, and You are right re: how he and his agency handled it.
There’s seems to be little doubt that he is guilty. And that’s a shame. He’s not the best actor but he seemed to always give off good guy vibes. And it’s sad the baby paid the ultimate price for it 🙁
I JOMO’d on BoD and kdrama for a long weekend at the beach and this is what I read! Woah… Will need to catch up and see the links.
I agree, it is very easy to issue an immediate and categorical denial if the accusations were completely untrue. That the agency is taking long to issue an official statement leads one to think it is still negotiating with the other camp for damage control; it is still checking what evidence are out there, and it is trying to weigh the risks of what it can admit (or deny) in light of “receipts” that can be revealed by others; and/or it already knows the truth, it is just evaluating the total legal and commercial implications of an admission. In any case, it is not looking good for KSH, and the brands that contracted with him are understandably cutting off association with him.
On the assumption that the accusations are true (regardless of parents), the poor baby. 😔💔💔💔
Yes the real tragedy is the baby. 😢 Who was “inconvenient”. 😡. He’s had a slew of fans come out swinging. Many going as far as to rally together to “sue” the YTuber reporter who inferred that he was “K”. Someone asked on Soompi (in the actor forum) if Start Up had a title change. I replied yes it did and linked the article. Whereupon his fan leapt on my answer saying that by dropping that fact in the conversation, I was therefore inferring that Actor K was KSH? They are actively trying to “cancel” all questions relating to the matter. And shushing everyone who even dares mention that it could be him, accusing people of painting him guilty even before he had a chance to speak for himself. They are still adamant that he is “Good Boy”.
But the silence from him and his agency speaks volumes. What facts did they need to check? Which were real and which were hyped? 🙄. Like you said, an immediate public denial would put a halt to all rumors and innuendo? They are in damage control. For what it’s worth, I think it was better that this came out after the end of HC3. At least it meant that the drama could finish airing. Already SMA and the other cast have backed out of post drama interviews due to this bombshell revelation.
I feel sorry for 2D1N. This is the second time they’ve been hit by scandals. They aren’t even sure they can air the footage this weekend? They can’t exactly scrub him out? They can probably carry on with the remaining cast but it would put a pall on filming future episodes.
Apparently his contract with his agency expired last September but it extended because of HTCCC.
Twitter is still abuzz and most of them are still defending him.
But it’s true what you said, the statement from the agency is late and he can still have fans after this.
Another life lost. 🙁
I still don’t understand his popularity after “Start Up”. His character was manipulative and unlikable, and I found his smile insincere with hidden agenda. Maybe that’s why his fans don’t mind his true colours as he’s similar to that role.
I wanted to watch HCCC because of Shin Mina but didn’t want to spend 16 hours looking at him. If only this news had broken out earlier, they might have replaced him like “River where the moon rises”…
Guess he still has to pay a lot in damages after the bad decision he made in aborting the baby and ending the relationship.
Thank you for this separate thread packmule. At least we can compartmentalize KSH and Hong Ban Jang.
I’m really sad for the cast. Fresh off the heels of HomeCha’s success. And then this. Some interviews of the other cast members have been canceled.
According to articles, KSH has already issued an official statement.
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2021/10/actor-kim-seon-ho-issues-a-formal-statement-of-apology-toward-ex-girlfriend-a
Yes thanks @packmule3 for drawing the line on the topics – the same bright line between reality and (drama-)fantasy. I absolutely feel for the cast and crew of HC3, and wonder how they must personally feel too. Then again, if they’re in this business (and a fair bit of the ensemble are veterans) it may not be something they haven’t seen.
Guess, they can’t get her to agree to their terms and the late apology came 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
There’s scene from HomeCha where NamSook got blamed for believing in a scam. And HJ called out the police for victim blaming. I hope people would also stop blaming poster A.
Oh HJ our best girl! How she stood by DuSik parallels also how Shin Min Ah stood by Kim Woo Bin during this cancer treatment.
I hope this isn’t the end though for KSH. That he won’t do a DuSik in episode 15. Instead, may he learn from this and rise above it. Maybe not go back to Korean entertainment (like DS also left Seoul). Instead may he find his own Gongjin (theater?).
There are so many life lessons and beautiful quotes in HomeCha. May our actors also live by them.
Yup. He’s admitted to being K. And still his fans come out in defence of him. Feels like Dejavu with Start Up JipYeong. 🙄
https://www.soompi.com/article/1494436wpp/kim-seon-ho-apologizes-for-controversy-involving-ex-girlfriend
I really hope he apologizes to his ex face to face and not just count this as sufficient.
There goes the ‘good boy’ image.
Bye bye.
Aside from the unborn baby, I also feel pain for the woman because she said it was supposed to be difficult for her to be pregnant because of her weak body, so her pregnancy with KSH was a miracle already.
When I first saw headlines of KSH cancelled, I first thought of his fans and the mess they did during “Start Up”. It’s like karma and retribution for them. So I felt excitement and thrill that KSH is getting cancelled.
This is such a sick response though, but indeed it’s like a natural response when you have the person associated to bad memories and experience.
May the baby be somewhere welcoming and happy, wherever he may be. May the woman find peace and forgiveness for the actions that she took.
Unfortunately the child is the one who lost their life. Pm3 you put everything in perspective.
In the entertainment industry, there is always this personality the actor carries/ or a personality the fans want to believe. We don’t really know this person at all. Now KSH apologised, time will tell if he can come back.
@nrllee, so I peeked at Twitter and Facebook because I was curious about the fans. I’ve read fan comments giving full support notwithstanding, comments about the deplorable cancel culture, a few comments blaming the ex, and one fan inviting KSH to her home country if South Korea doesn’t want him anymore (🤦♀️).
What an ugly mess all this is. I sincerely hope both he and his ex-gf find complete healing and peace.
Fans will forget and move on. I hope the Korean media industry addresses incidents like this honestly and openly, and this serves as a warning to celebrities that since you are a public figure, if you treat people this way the public will somehow know.
The fans are in the stages of denial. Most of them are blaming the girl and hurling vicious comments towards her., the same fans who were just gushing about how many lessons they have learned from HometownChaChaCha. It’s difficult to accept that KSH is not the good boy they believe he was but I sincerely hope that these fans get to process this mess eventually and see the actor for what he really is.
@Packmule3, this post probably off topic. Please feel free to delete it.
This is to add on @Nrlee comments on 1n2d
1N2D had scandals on Season 1 and Season 2 as well. I watched all episodes from Season 1, casually watched S3, but do not watch S2 or S4.
S1 scandal: MC Mong – evading military service by pulling out his tooth and Kang Ho Dong – Tax evasion. They were not the cause of the end of Season 1. Season 1 ended because Na PD wanted to do something else, so Eun Ji Won and Lee Seung Gi decided to step down from the shows as well.
S2 scandal: Lee Soo Geun gambling.
That’s why some comment in other blogs/k-news forum mentioned that 1N2D is jinxed. There are scandals in every season.
It takes two to clap. Sadly the baby got caught in all this.
It must have gotten really bad for the gf to dare to publicly expose KSH’s wrong doings. It does sound like she wants to get justice for how he has treated her…also for chosing fame over their r/s. Now that I read about how @pm3 writes about KSH’s actions on set, there is quite some dichotomy between his real and public self.
This is reminds me of the ZhengShuang scandal which is way worse and drama than KSH’s. Her husband went public with her actions because she was not responding to his requests and leaving him and their surrogate children, which she abandoned, in a lurch. One of her clips on YT showing her losing her temper reminds me of the KSH incident in 2D1N. At some point, their facade breaks and reveals their true self.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg7sqLF7Fn8
She had it worse, because she got totally cancelled not just by fans but by the government…also because she evaded taxes etc. (her social media sites and dramas were taken down)
Nonetheless, it just reflects the sinfulness of man. When we do really find these celebrities who are clean and upright, we admire and look up to them…still a reminder not to idealize these ppl like many delusional fan girls do.
Oh no and now the gf retracts her “false information” because she feels bad for seeing him fall in an instant. She is in for a lot a lot of backlash 😱
She had ppl exposing her identity, bg, face the whole day today… it looks kinda like doxxing/witch hunt too… and good that she is taking legal actions towards them. I am more suspicious to the first person who leaked her info, cos iirc, i read that as she was a secret gf, ksh did not tell about her to his ppl.
https://www.koreaboo.com/news/kim-seon-hos-ex-girlfriend-will-legally-dealing-doxxers-threats/
She took down her first post exposing him but she didn’t say that it was erroneous. She just said there were misunderstandings between them. She has received her apology from him and exposed him as a fraud. She’s been doxxed and has been receiving death threats from his rabid fans. 🙁. Good on her for taking up legal means to address the fall out.
Good boy is good boy no longer. His carefully curated image has been tarnished.
Yes, the baby is the real victim here. We need to keep reminding ourselves, and others, of that.
I have not immersed myself in the details of this scandal. But I have to wonder: did the ex-girlfriend not anticipate she was leaving herself vulnerable to the rabid fans of KSH? Her situation seems far worse now than it was before she vented her anger online. And I wonder if she is open to charges of defamation, if KSH’s legal team wanted to pursue them.
Defamation. What an interesting word. KSH’s career has taken a hit–perhaps a mortal blow–but you could argue that he’s more famous now than he was before the scandal broke. Infamous is the better word now, I suppose.
Fame is such a difficult thing to gauge. Is it good? Is it bad? Some people desperately want to be famous, or in proximity to fame, and others in the public eye desperately wish for anonymity. Fame can be a power used to lift up others, when stars use their popularity to champion good causes, or fame can be abused, when wielded to take undue advantages and belittle others.
The commentary currently flying around the internet is speculation and opinion. Only KSH and his ex-girlfriend know what drew them together, and only KSH knows what went into his decision to encourage her to abort their baby then break up with her. Only the ex-girlfriend knows why she agreed to have the abortion rather than keep the baby. There are likely nuances to her decision she didn’t publicly reveal.
It seems to me fame played a big role in all of this. For one party, the desire to maintain unsullied fame caused secrecy. Secrecy covered callous behavior. The aggrieved party broke secrecy to court public judgement of the callous behavior. The public was more than happy to oblige. Thus fame has become a monster, getting uglier as it gets larger, swallowing both parties.
I am sad that an innocent child was sacrificed for a relationship turned toxic. I would hope out of this there might be future consideration for the lives of babies conceived under difficult circumstances. Single mothers need more support, culturally and financially, so that pregnant women whose partners are unsupportive have better prospects if they keep their babies. Men need to be held responsible for babies they father.
Although the pleasure of sex is a gift in a loving relationship, couples need to remember that from a biological standpoint it functions, with all those racing hormones and feelings of unstoppable passion, to perpetuate our species. It should be no surprise that having sex without protection makes babies. Plan ahead. (And, while you’re at it, protect yourselves from sexually transmitted diseases.)
The only side I’ll pick in this scandal will be to join the chorus grieving the innocent life lost. There’s plenty of blame to be shared between KSH and his ex: neither is guilt free. They have both now gotten an unwelcome dose of reality.
@Packmule3 my comment is awaiting moderation.
@Welmaris Well said. There is no advocacy for the baby so far in all the comments I have read elsewhere. All the focus has been on the so called “adults” in the relationship. Who’s more “at fault”. And these 2 aren’t exactly high schoolers. Both well into their 30s and know full well what unprotected sex could result in. 🙄
Going to stay away from platforms & people that defend this guy despite knowing the POS that he is, but what guts me more is the victim blaming that’s happening here. The girl is always at fault, whether she gets pregnant or not, gets an abortion or not, doesn’t matter. The “boy” will ALWAYS be protected as compared to the girl. And this is exactly why women need to keep our defences up at all times. Sleazes like KSH can approach us anytime and we’ll be left wondering where we went wrong after irreparable damage is already done.
Gosh, this guy is so weird, his hype seems too hollow to me and his fame is just a mirage that his PR puts together. Otherwise he has ZERO substance as an actor and person. Good riddance if that’s indeed what this experience is going to be for him & his acting career. K-content needs better posters boys than him if it wants to survive. People like YYS, Jung Kyung Ho, Dae-myung, they’re the ones that need to be looked up to. Not randos like KSH and SHB :/
In my future Start-Up rewatches, I’m just going to be super glad that KSH was the SIDE KICK and DIDN’T GET THE GIRL. I want to literally hoist the showrunners on a pedestal and worship them for sticking to their guns instead of pandering to the audiences’ demands. How often does that happen in kdramas? Begone, KSH!
I read on allkp*p the girl side will be expose too soon, oct 25.
I guess both side really have toxic relationship.
I just dislike the fact the girl exposed Seonho bad mouthing start up cast. He is just nugu actor back then, without suzy name and nam joo hyuk name, also writer & director. That is the real fact.
Back then its really hard to enjoy suzy drama, bcs “some” or “mostly” han ji pyeong stand worshiping him like GOD 🤣 never stop badmouthing suzy and njh. I guess fans and their actor just same😑
Not sure why my first comment didn’t get through (over to you, @pm3 🙂) but I just also want to take a moment to mourn the loss of the little life that’s lost forever. Wanted to share a little anecdote here (not sure if it’s my place to share it in the first place but my intentions are from a good place i.e., to raise awareness about the ill-effects of having an abortion).
One of my really close acquaintances had a love marriage very early in her life. She got pregnant soon after and had a healthy little baby boy. She and her husband are both full-time musical artists (which means that the money isn’t all that great in the beginning). They got pregnant a second time maybe a year or so after their first child. This was when she had to get an abortion because both husband and wife felt like they didn’t have the financial bandwidth to raise two children. She was 26 or so at the time. They became more and more successful in their respective careers (are doing well now) but they have not been able to get pregnant again. After that abortion, she has tried all sorts of ways to get pregnant, via IVF (taking all those painful steroid injections), praying super hard, had about 2-3 miscarriages, but could not get pregnant again.
It’s just so devastating that the woman bears the brunt of an abortion for the rest of her life while it’s easy for men like KSH to utter the three words (“get the abortion”) without an ounce of remorse.
Now I’m not up to speed with this case anymore since KSH’s last non-apology apology was posted, and I guess the girl’s taken down somethings from her side and so on. Whatever is the case, abortion is never as easy as it seems and introduce life-long repercussions. It’s not going to be easy for her going forward and I hope things aren’t easy for him either.
Still don’t know why two of my comments haven’t gone through 😣
I have at least three that haven’t gone through.Perhsps the monitors think they’re inappropriate. Will wait and see.
@OAL Great thought 😊❤️🍪
@OAL @dashman1010 most times it’s due to too many hyperlinks or you could’ve inadvertently triggered a “spam block” because you used a banned “word”. “Bromance”… “Dimples”. 😂
KSH has a legion of international fans (and also many KNetizens) in his corner so I am guessing this “scandal” whilst it may have wiped out his carefully curated “good boy” image, it probably hasn’t rung the death knell to his career in acting.
@nrllee, I know what I did after reading @packmule3’s last post. She clarified her positions and I see where mine diverge. I like being a commenter on this blog and going forward will not post certain opinions. I like to be a good guest and the hospitality of this blog is too good to miss. I would now tell @packmule3 to disregard all of the offending posts-shred them, send them to the delete file, turn them into ether. I am glad the moderation works.
@packmule3 Thank you for providing a safe place for not just the old-timers but also occasional visitors like me! 🙏
I only browsed through the comments on Soompi and realized I would have been shot dead by his fans if I had posted my comment there 😅
Here are the healthy fruits for you when you go through your spam mailbox, which is probably quite full…
🍏🍎🍐🍊🍌🍉🍇🍓🍈🍒🍑🥭🍍🥝🥑
@nrllee I don’t think I used any of those words (hope it is more than evident by now that I’m not his fan in the slightest hehe) — oh wait, I used the word “wor/ship” wrt Start-up writers, maybe that was the glitch 🤔😞 Anyway…
@haengbog I distinctly remember your comment on this thread (among many other great comments ofc) because I felt the same about his character in Start-Up and was flabbergasted at how popular HJP got. He was manipulative from the get-go and took halmeoni’s kindness for granted in the pretext of having had a rough upbringing as an orphan. I’ve been rewatching bits of Start-Up and he feels even more terrible now as a character, with his only redeeming quality in his scenes with halmeoni (more props to Kim Hae-sook’s acting chops than any credits to KSH). He was the one who stole Nam Do-san’s identity in the first place, while Do-san never even confronted him about it, the poor soul. Any way I look at HJP, he seems like this distasteful and shrewd character that I’d avoid IRL. I guess people don’t like Do-san because he gives off this beta male vibe while HJP is the alpha male. Do-san being the model beta male is exactly why I will pick him every single time over HJP. HJP has the single-for-life aura around him imo… Thanks for sharing your thoughts on his character here, I very much enjoyed reading it. And yes, HE is the main reason I avoided (will avoid) HCCC (and all his past+future shows), just like you. Hope we meet again in another drama thread 🙂
@dashman1010 Thank you for your kind words. Birds of a feather flock together. We interpreted the drama and the news differently than his fans. That was why Dosan was one of the “Bitches’ Best Drama Boyfriends”, not the ‘Good Boy’.
(I was hoping Mr. Fox from “My Roommate is a Gumiho” would make it to the list too 😍)
@haengbog ooh, Dosan really is ideal boyfriend (TM) ❤️ Have not watched the Gumiho drama, but I will blindly accept BOD folks’ verdict when it comes to things like these because we’re all wise bitches (TM) here — led by the wisest one of us all ofc 😌
Kalimera everyone,
I didn’t want to take place into the conversation. I am not interested into scandals or KSH. I refrained myself all the past days, although I was reading what was being posted.
The only thing that upsets me is the following.
I accept everything about him being an awful person.
I cannot accept that easily though, that a woman chose to do an abortion in her own body, because the father of the child said so. Especially when she had fertility issues.
I am very sensitive about this, since I have polycystic ovaries syndrome and I have come to accept this condition since I was diagnosed ages ago.
I took some very important decisions back then: that I will protect my body, that I won’t proceed to an abortion and I have stated so in front of my parents when I was 23.
If you want to enjoy sex, it’s okay. Do so while protecting yourself with condoms or contraceptives. Listen to you ob-gyn, do regularly your test-pap.
Don’t do silly things that you will regret later. If you did silly things that you regreted, it’s okay as well. Take the part of the responsibility that is upon you, make peace with yourself and move on.
That’s all I wanted to say.
As it seems my comment is on moderation. 🙂
@Cleo Thank you for sharing your personal situation. Your advice is wise. I’d add to it, … don’t enter into sex at all except when you are prepared to accept and love the child that will have your genes.
@GB Unnie,
So very true… <3
Woop, both my comments have appeared now, TY @pm3 ❤️🍪
Soompi via Dispatch just posted an article that shares KSH’s story from another perspective. It is worth a read.
Now I wonder if the aborted baby was his since his ex apparently cheated on him while they were dating. No paternity test was done on the unborn baby.
What a messy situation. 🙁
Normally I would just not say anything but the whole response and how this all unfolded does not make sense. Why did Dispatch only reveal those details now? Those texts can only have come from his side. His Agency (and he) could’ve snuffed out the innuendo with this release straight after her post? Why the interval? The silence from their end meant loss of contracts and movie deals – commercial loss. Here’s my take on it.
His agency and he remained silent about his side of the story (he made a public apology acknowledging the relationship – he took the “high road”). Well played. And they waited to see how the public would respond. Yes they lost commercial deals and movie deals in the interim but what matters to them is the public’s opinion. It’s about surviving the scandal. So they played the waiting game. She retracted her statement (probably after they brokered a deal with her). The groundswell of public support (internationally) for him was huge. Her reputation was in tatters. Then this Dispatch article is released. This is Ad hominem. Further discrediting her and making her out to be some crazy lunatic who potentially cheated on him. Burying her for good and making KSH out to be the victim. Her voice would never be heard again. It’s murky dirty tactics. 😑 I am not a fan. And lost in all this is the life of a baby whose name we will never know about.
Just a note about all of this. The story has legs. Any agency worth its salt(pun intended) would have quashed this story asap. They didn’t do their job. They could have stopped it in its tracks. Watch the political spin doctors work. The goal is stopping the story and distraction. All the agency really wanted was to make sure people knew about the dubious contract extension. It looks like malpractice to me. Nobody looks good here. And I’m of the opinion that our actorvwill be placed in purgatory for some time but will be removed when it has been determined that he has been rehabilitated and/or other scandals will supercede his.
There is an older actor, Lee Keung-young, who was imprisoned for having sex with under 17 year old minor at least three times with the promise of movie roles in 2002. We now see him getting steady work beginning in 2005 (presumably after he finished his prison, community service and probation sentence). His film work began first but his TV work began in 2012.
What is yet to be seen is whether our actor will get leads or character roles. Perhaps he’ll be cast as a villain. But the removal from purgatory is not unheard of in Korean Media.
Looks like my comment seems to have vanished!!👿
Well well well. Look who’s making a job of stepping in for men with “scandals”. 😂. I think he’s a great addition. I may just start watching 2D1N again.
https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/01/actor-na-in-woo-confirmed-as-a-fixed-member-on-kbs2s-variety-show-1-night-2-days
😂😂 You and me both.
I’m looking forward to his premiere. He must be the industry’s “Mr Clean” or “Bounty” (slogan of Bounty kitchen towel: the quicker picker upper).
Is he going to be the youngest in the group? Probably the tallest, too.
@packmule3 I think despite his height he’s quite coordinated? He did those stunts in RWTMR and seemed to move well in those battle scenes. I hope this gives him more exposure. He deserves more roles. From what I have seen he has the range and he’s easy on the eye 😂
😂 We’ll see if he’s really coordinated.
But many of the games they play on “2 Days, 1 Night” have nothing to do with coordination but timing (or luck) and intuition (or “ball sense” is how we call it in tennis and basketball). Ravi the kpop idol should be winning most of the games because he’s the most coordinated. But he doesn’t.
And their oldest member (the actor) should be losing all the games because he isn’t as agile as the others but he’s winning in the most unexpected ways because he’s experienced in a lot of things unlike the others.
But let’s see. I think Na In Woo will be a great addition. He’s a team player. He’s a crowd pleaser but not obsequiously so like Mr Dimples over there. Unlike Fake Guy, I think he’s willing to sacrifice his image for entertainment and get dirty for laughs.
I hope he’s smart, too, either book-smart or street-smart. That’s the other thing that bugged me about Mr Guy Smiley. Behind that smile, he’s dumb as a rock. Because he had to play up this Boy-Next-Door image (that’s how he was marketed by his company), he couldn’t be seen as street-smart or cunning and shrewd.
But he naturally wasn’t book smart. He isn’t wide reader (like Yoon Shi Yoon, the previous cast) or a fount of knowledge, trivia and weird information (that’s DinDin lol) so his airheadness became obvious to me. 🤪🤦♀️
So let me see with Na In Woo. Hope he doesn’t disappoint. Fingers crossed for a better season.
I like the Variety Shows but wonder why they’re not replacing the one who must not be named with two women. Song Ji-hyo and Jeon So-min are very entertaining g on Running Man and Park Na-rae and Hwasa a re great on Home Alone. Na-rae won a Dasaeng and is a g e neral award winner. The times I saw more women on these shows was on Little Forest and Love type shows. Do you think these variety Shows are a bit sexist?
2omen can play sports too-look at the WPGA and all those women Korean golfers. So their participation on sports variety shows would be fine. Maybe in golf crazy Eouth Korea, they could do a golf variety showcwith celebrity guest stars like our favorite power couple Son Ye-jin and Hyun Bin. Boy would that get ratings! Just saying…
Nah. Life doesn’t have to be unisex all the time, @OAL. 🙂 You know that.
If you watch 2D1N, you’ll see that it’s like “Dumb and Dumber” or “Three Men and Baby” or “Harold and Kumar” where guys go through from one hilarious exploit to another because of their foibles. It’s like a male locker room with banters and jokes that even the Korean strict countryside ahjummas won’t take offense to.
But you put women in the mix and there’ll be stupid love lines and gender stereotypes like in Running Man. 😂 Like JiHyo is the spaced-out girl who can’t do math for the life of her, but is an Ace sleuth. And Somin is the boy-crazy girl who acts in love with all the male guests. And JiHyo is constantly being paired off: Gary, then Kwangsoo and now with Mr Capable Kim Jongkook. I wish RM would quit that. Those jokes are stale.
There’s a reason 2D1N consistently beats RM in ratings in SK, despite the revolving door of cast members. The international audience is the lifeline of RM, while 2D1N relies mainly on SK viewers, non-K-pop viewers, and older generation.
RM has a game concept, so the sex of the players doesn’t matter. 2D1N’s concept is a men’s road trip.
The format of 2D1N doesn’t suit adding women because they would have to sleep in different rooms. If it’s all guys they can crowd into the 1 room. Saves the hassle.
@packmule3 you have a point about the games and how it’s not coordination alone that gives you the advantage. Should be interesting to watch 😂
@pm3, Excellent points all around. Where women do well is in the variety of K Dramas Tharp feature badass women. When I now see a Kim Hye-so drama,I loved Hyena and one of its early episodes that had a delicious twist. I know we’ll get a fearless, take no prisoners character.Somin was just in a revenge drama with Song Y oon-a,, where Somin was a villain and a mistress and matched wits with the wife, Yoon-a and the creepy husband,played, by Lee Sung-jae. I recently watched Mine and loved the two women protagonists played by Lee Bo-young and aKim Seo-hyung(who actually played a lesbian).It is a making that is very stylish. I think it helps that so many dramas are written by women.
@pm3, you are c so right about the silly love lines and roles that they give the women in the S e variety shows. I do like Home Alone-it is more of a lifestyle show. There is also another that I watched where th e y go around in a tiny house and have guests over. HA ji Wan was a guest and she actually brought bagels and lox for beakfast-she made her own cream cheese-I got a big kick out of the episode as a Jewish New Yorker(it also seems that Koreans like Italian and French food). Loved Youn’s Kitchen where c our Oscar winner and our A list stars, Park Seo Joon, Lee Seo -jin(NYU B School grad) and Jung Yu–mi) fed Spanish tourists who were mainly clueless about who they were. Anyway-have gone on too long…