The Korean entertainment world appears to be filled with pretty visuals and endearing innocence, South Korea is notorious for its celebrities to have spotless personal records. Even a little mistake can make the career of these stars go downwards. Even matters like dating are looked at with a scandalous approach by the traditional audience. But, just like any other showbiz South Korea isn’t free of scandals and controversies. We bring you a list of some of the Korean Celebrities who made headlines with their various scandals and received backlash from the public. Just like any other individual Korean celebrities are prone to making mistakes, but some of them went beyond.
1. Yoo Seung Jun
Yoo Seung Jun is also known as Steve Yoo. Steve Yoo evaded his military service which is mandatory in Korea for all males by acquiring American citizenship and giving up his Korean citizenship right before his enlistment. He later was forced to leave the country and banned from entering South Korea.
2. Seo Ye Ji
Seo Ye Ji was involved in multiple scandals, from accusations of bullying in school to abusing the staff. The actress also allegedly tried to control her ex-boyfriend in his drama by not making any physical contact with other actresses. The actress received a lot of backlashes from the public which made her go low profile for a year.
3. Ahn Jae Hyun
Ahn Jae Hyun divorced his wife Koo Hye Sun in 2019. The divorce turned a little ugly for the couple when the wife Koo Hye Sun got involved in a bitter blame game. The actress released the text messages saying that her mom is ill and her husband doesn’t want to meet with her mom when they were talking about the divorce papers.
4. Seungri
Bigbang’s Seungri was involved in one of the biggest scandals in the South Korean entertainment industry. The Burning Sun Scandal involved sexual assault, drug use, violence, etc. After which he retired from the Korean Pop industry. He is currently serving his sentence. The former star was also fined 1.15 billion won.
5. Lee Byung Hun
Lee Byung Hun is one of the rare names in the South Korean entertainment industry who is talented yet scandalous. The actor is successful despite all this. He was allegedly involved in affairs with two women when his wife was pregnant. Byung Hun was also accused of gambling and he also appeared on the list of artists investigated for taxation fraud.
6. Ji Soo
Actor Ji Soo was involved in allegations of sexual harassment, school bullying, and violence. The actor had to drop his ongoing project River When the Moon Rises in between. The drama production company sued him and his agency for 3 billion won. The actor later apologized publicly for his past misconduct.
7. TVXQ Yunho
Veteran K-pop celebrity Yunho was accused of visiting an illegal escort bar and violating Covid-19 norms. He allegedly ran away from authorities when caught. The singer and his agency later made clear that he was unaware of the place being an illegal escort bar and apologized for breaking Covid-19 rules.
8. AOA Jimin
AOA Jimin was accused by her ex-bandmate Mina of bullying and mistreatment during her years in the group. Mina also accused another bandmate Seolhyun of being aware of her mistreatment yet doing nothing about it. Jimin had to apologize publically for her past actions. Even Seolhyun’s reputation got tarnished after this incident.
9. Jung Joon Hyung
Jung Joon Hyung was involved in the Burning Sun Scandal for illegal filming, sexual assault, and illegal distribution. He was also accused of sexually assaulting women, illegally filming them, and spreading the videos in a group chat. Jung Joon Hyung is currently serving his sentence in prison after getting caught in 2019.
10. NCT Lucas
Lucas is a rapper of the popular K-pop group NCT. The rapper was accused of cheating on his alleged ex-girlfriends. Few reports claimed that the rapper bought lavish gifts and had been in multiple relationships simultaneously. The rapper seems to be on hiatus since then and apologized publicly for his immature behaviour.
