Actor accused of sexual misconduct commits suicide

Actor and professor Jo Min-ki, 53, was found dead in an apparent suicide Friday afternoon in a storage room of an apartment building in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, around 4 p.m.

His body was found after his wife reported it to the 119 rescue center.

Jo was scheduled to be questioned by police for sexual abuse allegations on March 12 at the North Chungcheong Police Agency after several students came forward with accounts of being sexually assaulted by Jo.

The accusations began on Feb. 20 with an anonymous internet post claiming that he had sexually assaulted and harassed his students at Cheongju University, where he taught since 2010.

“Jo was investigated and ultimately removed from his position for sexually harassing his students for years,” it read. Jo lost his job at the university last year.

That was followed by a number of internet posts by his former students, including details about him “calling students to his apartment at night” and groping them against their will.

While Jo denied allegations against him at first, he later changed his stance saying that he will “cooperate with the police investigations.” The police confiscated his phone earlier in the week.

Jo debuted as a theatre actor in 1982, and had a successful career in the entertainment field ever since.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]