This Korean actor was charged guilty for sex offense, yet he constantly receives new roles in highly-anticipated K-dramas.
Recently, “Dr. Romantic 3”, one of the most highly-anticipated K-dramas of early 2022 has announced actor Lee Kyung Young as a new cast member. At this, some unknowing netizens got excited as the actor is known for his villainous roles. However, many expressed great disappointment, and brought up the actor’s past sexual scandals.
In particular, back in 2002, Lee Kyung Young was charged and found guilty of underage prostitution. At the time, it was reported that the actor promised to turn an underage girl into a famous actress, and coerced her into sexual activities. As a result of the trial, he was found not guilty of statutory rape because he did not know that the victim was a minor, and was sentenced to 10 months in prison, 2 years in probation, and 160 hours of community service.
Against the charge, the actor insisted that he was not guilty, and in a 2012 interview, even said, “I was acquitted by the court and I received an apology from that friend. Anyway, I had nearly 10 years of self-reflection because I couldn’t help but feel sorry for causing concern to my family, my seniors and juniors.”
However, there is absolutely no evidence to prove that he was acquitted by the court.
Despite his criminal records and lack of evidence about his acquittal, Lee Kyung Young made a successful comeback in 2005 with a role in “The Wildmill Palm Grove”. For the next 7 years, he focused on cinematic projects, before returning to the small screen in 2012 with “Vampire Prosecutor 2”. At the time, it seemed that the public has forgotten about the actor’s past controversy, leading to him starring in various hit K-dramas, including “Misaeng: Incomplete Life”, “Hidden Identity”, “Stranger”, “Vagabond”, “Hyena”, and so on. On top of this, he was honored at the prestigious awards ceremonies such as APAN and Baeksang Arts Awards.
It was not until 2020, when Lee Kyung Young confirmed his appearance in the megahit “The World of The Married”, did people pay attention to his criminal offense again. Immediately, waves of criticisms arose, only for “The World of The Married” to be a huge success. Many people expressed their anger over this, especially when Lee Kyung Young went on to star in various dramas like “Again My Life” and “Doctor Lawyer”.
Now, when news arrive that Lee Kyung Young will appear in “Dr. Romantic 3”, netizens are enraged again. They questioned if there are no other actors, and requested production to stop casting a sex criminal.
Below are some comments from netizens:
- He must have used his connections to get new roles… There’s no other reason why he constantly get casted with a past like that
- I didn’t know this… Now that I do, he needs to be completely removed from the scree
- Turns out his villainous acting is not so much acting after all
- Can’t the “Dr. Romantic 3” production team response to this? It is not too late to remove this sex offender
Lee Kyung Young in “The World of the Married”
Source: k14
