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| ▲ This Yonhap file photo shows South Korean actor Cho Jin-woong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL,
Dec. 6 (Yonhap) --
In an official statement, Sarament Entertainment said, “After confirming with the actor, it is true that there was an incident involving misconduct during his minor years.”
The agency added, however, “It is difficult to fully verify the details more than 30 years after the fact,” stressing that “this matter is in no way related to any act of sexual violence.”
The agency also apologized, saying, “We sincerely apologize to anyone who may have been hurt or affected by the actor’s past wrongdoing.”
Earlier in the day, rumors circulated in the entertainment industry claiming that Cho had been sent to a juvenile detention facility during high school for vehicle theft and sexual assault.
Speculation also arose that his decision to use his father’s name as a stage name instead of his birth name, Cho Won-jun, stemmed from that past.
In response, the agency said, “It was not intended to conceal his past, but rather reflected his determination to become a better person and to hold himself to higher standards,” adding that it hoped the public would “generously understand the sincerity behind his decision.”
Cho graduated from the Department of Theater and Film at Kyungsung University in Busan and began his acting career on the stage before making his film debut in 2004 with “Once Upon a Time in High School.”
He went on to appear in numerous films, including “A Dirty Carnival” (2006), “Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time” (2012), “The Admiral: Roaring Currents” (2014) and “Believer” (2018), in both leading and supporting roles.
Cho also gained widespread popularity through the hit tvN drama series “Signal” in 2016. He is set to reunite with the main cast for its sequel, “Second Signal,” scheduled for release next year.
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