Netflix series Squid Game star Oh Yeong-su has reportedly been charged with sexual misconduct in South Korea.
The 78-year-old actor, who won a Golden Globe Award for his performance in the mega-hit Netflix series last February, was charged in Suwon on Thursday and released without jail, according to Variety.
According to Yonghap News Agency, the Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Procuratorate charged Oh with allegedly inappropriately touching a woman in mid-2017.
South Korean actor Oh Yeong-su has been charged with sexual misconduct. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)
According to a South Korean outlet report, the prosecutor initially filed the complaint in December 2021, but authorities closed the case without charging Oh in April.
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The case was later reopened at the request of the alleged victim, according to the outlet. Oh has denied the allegations.
“I was just holding her hand to show the way around the lake,” Oh said in a statement shared with South Korean TV station JTBC.
Oh won a Golden Globe Award for his role in the mega-hit Netflix series Squid Game (Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Hollywood Foreign Press Association).
He continued, “I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn’t make a fuss about it, but that doesn’t mean I’m admitting the allegations.”
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Prosecutors first announced on Friday that they had charged the actor. An official at the Suwon District Procuratorate told AFP that everything the local media reported about the case was “not factually incorrect”.
The official did not provide any further details.
According to AFP, local media reported that the Seoul Ministry of Culture stopped airing a commercial about its regulatory innovations with Oh after the news broke.
Oh was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards, but lost to Succession star Matthew MacFadyen. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Image)
Oh played Oh Il-nam/Player 001, the oldest entrant in the survival drama’s eponymous lethal competition.
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He was the first South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe Award after taking home the trophy for Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series, Series, Miniseries or TV Movie.
Oh was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards, losing to Succession star Matthew MacFadyen.
Ashley Hume is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @ashleyhume