'Squid Game' Star And Golden Globe Winner Indicted For Sexual Misconduct

KEY POINTS

Oh Yeong-su is alleged to have inappropriately touched a woman in mid-2017
The actor denied the allegations
Authorities closed the case in April but reopened it again at the victim's request

"Squid Game" star and Golden Globe winner Oh Yeong-su has been indicted on sexual misconduct charges in South Korea after allegedly touching a woman inappropriately.

Prosecutors in Suwon, South Korea, confirmed Friday that they had charged Oh, 78, a day earlier. He has since been released without detention, Variety reported.

Oh's accuser filed a complaint against him in December 2021, alleging that he inappropriately touched her in mid-2017.

Authorities closed the case in April but recently reopened it again at the alleged victim's request, according to Yonhap news agency.

Oh denied the allegations when prosecutors questioned him.

"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," Oh said in a statement shared with South Korean broadcaster JTBC.

A Suwon court official said that "everything reported by local media is not factually correct," according to the AFP news agency.

The agency also reported that the Korean ministry of culture pulled a government TV commercial about regulatory innovation featuring Oh off the air following the indictment.

The news of Oh's indictment received mixed responses from the "Squid Game" fans.

"I thought they were about to say he was dead. This is worse," one Twitter user commented.

"He was a secret villain in the series and turned out to be the same in real life," another added.

"Uh oh. Dude was living off 'Squid Game' success," a third person wrote.

Oh became a global celebrity after starring in Netflix's hit South Korean survival drama, which premiered in September 2021.

In "Squid Game," he played the oldest participant in the competition and appeared to be a kind soul amid the violence as participants vied for survival and the $35 million grand prize.

His role earned him a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor in a series, miniseries or television film. He also nabbed a Primetime Emmy nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series.

Oh began acting professionally in 1976. He has spent most of his career in live theater.

In 2013, he claimed to have acted in more than 200 stage productions, including the Korean adaptations of "A Streetcar Named Desire," and Goethe's "Faust." Prior to "Squid Game," he was best known as the old monk in Kim Ki-duk's "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring."