Kim Sun-ho has announced that he will be withdrawing from the variety show 1 Night 2 Days (1N2D) as well as his upcoming film, Date at 2 p.m. This announcement comes on the heels of a maelstrom that started on October 17, following an anonymous post from a woman who claimed to have been in a relationship with a popular actor whose last name began with a K.
The poster, referred to in the media by the pseudonym Ms. A, never named Kim Sun-ho in the original post, but when it went viral there were enough details for K-netizens to put a name to “Actor K.”
Ms. A wrote that she began dating Actor K at the start of last year and they were together until four months ago. When she became pregnant, Actor K persuaded her to get an abortion under the pretext that he would soon marry her. Though she wanted to carry the baby to term, Actor K convinced her proceed with the abortion as news he’d fathered a child would result in him having to pay out financial damages in the range of 900 million won (~$800,000, and it’s not clear if he was referring to being liable to his agency or to his advertisers). Though she had the abortion, afterwards, instead of being apologetic towards her, Actor K erased all traces of himself from the relationship and he dumped her.
The anonymous nature of the post had some outlets dismissing the allegations, but there were early signs that something bigger was brewing. It was unusual to see so much time go by with no response from Kim’s agency and some companies quietly removed all ads featuring Kim Sun-ho.
Though an official statement is now out, there’s still the question of what will happen with Kim Sun-ho’s many future projects. Interestingly, there’s been no mention of a hiatus or reflection period yet, but it looks like for the time being, Kim Sun-ho won’t have much choice when it comes to working. He has been dropped from all of his dozen or so advertisement campaigns, which included La Roche-Posay and Domino’s Pizza, and it’s hard to see any directors or broadcasters taking a chance and casting him.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT
I sincerely apologize for the delay in releasing an official statement. A few days ago, articles with my name were published and I experienced a fear I’d never felt before and it’s only now that I’m able to write a statement.
Our relationship had a positive beginning. Through the course of those events, I hurt her with my careless and inconsiderate behavior. I wanted to first meet her in person and apologize to her directly, but I have been unable to do so and I am waiting for the opportunity to meet her.
First and foremost, I would like to apologize sincerely to her through this statement.
To everyone who cheered me on and believed in me to the very end, I’m sorry for disappointing you. It was only through your constant support that the actor Kim Sun-ho was able to succeed, but I let myself forget that.
I apologize to the many people who I worked with on projects who have been impacted negatively because of my inadequacies.
I apologize to everyone whom I’ve hurt.
I know that I won’t be able to reach everyone with my rambling words, but nonetheless I hope to impart my sincerity.
I’m truly sorry.
– Kim Sun-ho