Squid Game actor indicted for sexual misconduct in South Korea

Oh Yeong-su, the South Korean actor who recently won a Golden Globe for his role in Netflix’s “Squid Game,” was indicted on sexual misconduct charges in his home country on Thursday.

Prosecutors in Suwon revealed Friday they had charged the 78-year-old actor a day earlier over an allegation he in appropriately touched a woman in 2017, reports Variety.

The alleged victim initially filed the complaint against Oh in Dec. 2021 but it was closed in April 2022. Local authorities say they reopened the case at the victim’s request, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Oh denied the allegations against him when questioned by prosecutors.

“I just held her hand to guide the way around the lake. I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn’t make a fuss about it but it doesn’t mean that I admit the charges,” the actor said in a statement to Korean broadcaster JTBC.

Oh was born in what is modern day North Korea in 1944, moving across the 38th parallel line that separated the two Koreas before the outbreak of the Korean War, where he lost both his father and brother.

Spending most of his career in live theater, Oh began acting professionally in 1967. He was a member of the National Theater Company of Korea from 1987 to 2010, where he has done productions of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Merchant of Venice” and Goethe’s “Faust,” where he played the titular character.

The Korean actor often portrays monks in film and television due to his experience in Buddhist plays. Prior to “Squid Game,” he was best known for his role as the old monk in “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring,” a Korea drama that made Roger Ebert’s list of Great Movies.

In Netflix’s survival drama “Squid Game,” Oh played a kind, older participant that appeared to play the foil to the younger, more self-interested contestants. His portrayal won him a Gold Globe Award for best supporting actor in a series, miniseries or television film.