Oh Dal-su denies sexual misconduct claims
Oh Dal-su, a popular comedic actor, denied Monday that he sexually harassed a junior theater actor when he was working in Busan during the 1990s. His defense came three days after the accusation against him was made public.“The claim against me is not true. I didn’t do it,” Oh said in a statement. “I looked back on the past, some 30 years ago when I was in my early 20s, but I have never done such things.”
The accusation against the actor began with an anonymous online post dated Feb. 15 in which the author accused the actor of sexually assaulting her in the 1990s when she was working with him at a theater in Busan.
The actor’s name wasn’t revealed in the post, but his initials were.
“The actors habitually and secretly committed sexual harassment against junior female actors. He was one of producer Lee’s pupils and now is a popular comedy actor,” the person wrote, referring to the disgraced stage director Lee Youn-taek, who made a public apology on Feb. 19 for sexual abuse.
“For me, he is no more than a pervert, an evil [person] and a psychopath. Since the shocking incident, I have been in pain for 20 years and still receive psychotherapy. I hope he is punished in hell.”
On Friday afternoon, some media outlets reported that Oh was the man referred to in the post. Neither the actor nor his management agency were available for comments and did not provide any official response until Monday.
“As I was filming a movie up to Feb. 24, I thought it was my duty as an actor to complete the shooting and be at the scene to make fewer problems for the movie’s production team,” Oh said. “I feel very frustrated as a person and an actor going through this. I offer my sincere apology for taking time to ruminate over and say what I have to say.” Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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