‘Squid Game’ actor O Yeong-su charged with sexual misconduct in Korea

Award-winning “Squid Game” star O Yeong-su has been charged with sexual misconduct in Korea.

The 78-year-old was released without jail after being accused of inappropriately touching a woman’s body in 2017, AFP reported.

The woman originally filed a complaint against Yeong-su in December 2021. While the case was closed by police last April, it was reopened after the alleged victim requested further investigation.

Yeong-su denied the allegations when questioned by authorities, according to local Yonhap news agency.

The actor – who won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his breakout role as Oh Il-nam in the Netflix hit – has released a statement regarding the allegations.

“I was just holding her hand to show the way around the lake,” O told Korean news channel JTBC. “I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn’t make a fuss about it, but that doesn’t mean I admit the allegations.”

An official at the Suwon District Procuratorate told AFP that everything the local media reported about the actor, who is in his 50s, was “not factually wrong”.

The Korean culture ministry also recently pulled a government television commercial starring Yeong-su from the air, following the indictment.

Meanwhile, the streamer’s hugely popular survival drama returns for season two in the future.

Writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed the news in an interview with the Associated Press last year.

Hwang said, “There was so much pressure, so much demand, and so much love for a second season. I almost have the feeling that you leave us no choice!”