Broadcasters quickly erasing Cho Jin-woong from channels after juvenile crime admission
Published: 07 Dec. 2025, 20:46
![Actor Cho Jin-woong poses at the 44th Golden Cinematography Awards in southern Seoul on Nov. 18, 2024. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/12/07/edeae0fd-76d6-4c85-bbf3-2de6b8dc135a.jpg)
Actor Cho Jin-woong poses at the 44th Golden Cinematography Awards in southern Seoul on Nov. 18, 2024. [NEWS1]
Broadcasters are quickly erasing the traces of actor Cho Jin-woong from their channels after he admitted to committing crimes as a minor and announced his retirement on Saturday.
SBS replaced Cho as the narrator of the documentary “Gangsters: The Price of Corruption,” a four-episode series that began airing on Nov. 30, and rerecorded the narration. The program follows transnational organized crime groups and those investigating them.
KBS also set to private a 2021 YouTube documentary titled “Special Envoy Cho Jin-woong Brings Back General Hong Beom-do” which featured Cho traveling to Kazakhstan as a national envoy to take part in the repatriation of Hong’s remains.
Uncertainty now hangs over tvN’s “Second Signal,” in which Cho plays a lead role. The series follows “Signal” (2016), which reached a peak viewership of 15 percent. Writer Kim Eun-hee returned for the sequel, and actors Kim Hye-soo and Lee Je-hoon reprised their roles. Production wrapped in August, but the broadcaster now faces an unexpected obstacle. tvN said it is “in discussion” regarding whether to air the drama.
Cho's retirement announcement came on Saturday through his agency Saram Entertainment.
“I apologize for disappointing those who trusted and supported me because of past wrongdoing,” Cho said. “I will accept all criticism and end all activities as of today. I will bring my acting career to an end.”
His announcement came one day after a media outlet reported that Cho stole a car and was involved in a sexual assault case during high school. Additional allegations surfaced that he drove drunk and assaulted others after he debuted as an actor. Cho denied involvement in the sexual assault case but admitted to most of the other accusations before declaring his retirement.
Cho debuted in the 2004 film “Once Upon a Time in High School” under his stage name Cho Jin-woong instead of his legal name, Cho Won-joon, and built a long career through films such as “A Dirty Carnival” (2006), “Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time” (2012), “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014) and “Believer” (2018). He earned praise for his performances as determined detectives in “Signal” (2016) and “The Policeman’s Lineage” (2022).
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HA NAM-HYUN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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