Amid Kim Soo Hyun backlash, a look at 7 Korean actors who bounced back from controversies

Indian Express

2 days ago

Popular South Korean actor Kim Soo Hyun's recent controversy involving the late Bloodhounds star Kim Sae Ron rocked the nation and the entertainment industry. Given the Queen of Tears actor's decade-long career and massive popularity, the news spread like wildfire, making global headlines and forcing a sudden halt on his upcoming Disney+ K-drama Knock Off, billed as the next big swing of his career. With South Korea's big cancel culture, celebs who get caught in serious scandals often struggle, sometimes permanently, to claw their way back into the spotlight, regardless of how murky or mild the accusations may be.
In Soo Hyun's case, he is accused of dating a minor. While we don't yet know how things will pan out for him, he's not the first to land in hot water. Several stars before him have faced backlash, but managed to find their way back into the spotlight.
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Avid Korean entertainment lovers would remember Shi Ho, whose soaring career, marked by early 2000s hits like Queen of Reversals, The Princess' Man, and Cheongdamdong Alice, making him South Korea's top star, was ruined over a false sexual assault scandal. In 2013, he was set to venture into cinema with Confession of Murder, but before that, a trainee dragged him to court for forcing her into sexual intercourse. Shi Ho counter-sued, saying he never had bad intentions and everything was consensual. At the time, many came out in support of Shi Ho, even the restaurant owner who witnessed the incident, along with friends and colleagues. Due to the lack of evidence, Shi Ho was let go, and the girl suddenly withdrew her lawsuit. But Shi Ho then struggled to make a comeback, contracts were stalled, ads were taken down, and fans turned against him. He took a break and did nothing from 2013 to 2016. Then in 2017, he made a successful comeback with My Golden Life, starring Shin Hye Sun. Shi Ho is still active in the industry, though not as much as before.
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Back then, no one imagined that Lee Byung Hun, now a Korean A-lister with global fame thanks to Squid Game, would bounce back from not one but two major scandals. In 2009, his ex-girlfriend Kwon Mi-yeon accused him of cheating, manipulating her into quitting her career for marriage, and even hinted at his involvement in shady dealings in the U.S. She later dropped the lawsuit, and Lee walked free. But trouble found him again in 2014 when he was accused of having an affair with model Lee Ji Yeon and Glam's Da Hee, while his wife was pregnant. Lee publicly apologised and took a break. Then in 2018, he made a full-blown comeback with Mr. Sunshine.
Popular actor Song Hye Kyo became a global phenomenon way before the Hallyu wave struck the world with global OTT platforms, so her involvement in a tax evasion scandal in 2014 became a huge issue. Song was accused of evading around 2.5 billion won in taxes over three years, and the actor ended up blaming her accountant for the confusion. She later issued a public apology on camera. Song bounced back into the spotlight faster than anyone else, thanks to her career's biggest hit, Descendants of the Sun. She was able to build back her reputation, and soon after, she got married to her co-star Song Joong Ki, which further boosted her popularity. The now ex-couple was called the power couple of South Korea.
Song Joong Ki's personal life has always remained under scrutiny ever since he married Song Hye Kyo in 2017. Within just two years, he was accused of secretly filing for divorce, while his then-wife claimed she found out about it on TV. The official reason was given as 'differences in personality,' but rumours suggested infidelity on his part. He disappeared from the limelight for a while and then returned with successful projects like Vincenzo. In 2023, after he got married to British actor Katy, he sparked another round of controversy with his 'men have it harder in the industry' comment, saying that 'being a father, being a husband' can cost you jobs in entertainment. Throughout his career, he's been tangled in dating controversies too, but never actually got cancelled and kept bagging lead roles. That is, until recently, his comebacks like Bogotá, Loh Kiwan, etc., have started pulling in mixed to flat-out cold responses.
After going big with slice-of-life comfort K-dramas like Start-Up and Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Kim Seon Ho faced major backlash in 2021 after he was accused of abortion coercion by a former alleged girlfriend. At the time, he had a long list of ad deals and contracts lined up, but sponsors quickly pulled back, and he started losing everything to the controversy. His silence didn't help either and led to him dropping out of major projects. It was only after Dispatch's investigative reporting that the truth came out, suggesting the actor didn't force his ex, and Seon Ho bounced back into the limelight. He's now leading several shows and has landed some major nominations.
It's Okay to Not Be Okay actor Seo Ye Ji was accused of manipulating and controlling her ex-boyfriend, faking her background, school bullying, staff abuse, etc. The actor was cancelled hard but still tried to make her way back with Eve in 2022. While the response in South Korea was mixed, Netflix numbers showed global audiences were still in. More recently, she got dragged into the Kim Soo Hyun mess for being from the same agency, Gold Medalist. But this time, she stood her ground and has now announced her next project, First of Humans.
The biggest example of Korean cancel culture not touching stardom is probably BIGBANG's G-Dragon. While most of BIGBANG's members, including T.O.P, wrecked their careers with drug scandals, G-Dragon, embroiled in a marijuana case back in 2011, still stands as one of the most influential K-pop icons to this day. In 2022, he cleared his name and dropped a comeback album like nothing ever happened.