Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Text message scandal: Handsome stars' dirty little secrets?
Joo Jin-mo / Korea Times file
By Jung Min-ho
Joo Jin-mo neither admits nor denies making lewd comments about women
By Jung Min-ho
When actor Joo Jin-mo's agency revealed earlier this month that the star's mobile phone had been hacked and he was blackmailed, many fans were worried.
But their sympathy quickly turned to anger when the hackers revealed Joo's text messages with another handsome star and his best friend, Jang Dong-gun.
The messages show two men sharing pictures of young women and making lewd comments about them. In a statement Thursday, Joo, 45, fiercely denied taking their photos illegally, but was silent on whether he made the remarks.
“I never took photos of any women illegally, nor did I distribute such photos to anyone,” Joo said. “I will take this as an opportunity to reflect on my life and will try to become a better person.”
He said the hackers started blackmailing him two months ago.
“After I ignored their requests, they sent me the photos of my passport, resident registration certificate, driver's license, wife and other family members to push me harder,” Joo said.
“I thought they would continue to make threats if I complied. I also thought it could encourage them to look for other celebrity targets. So I decided not to back down.
“I apologize to my friends who were mentioned in my text messages. I'm also terribly sorry to the woman. I ask you for your forgiveness.”
The text message screenshots, which appeared on many websites last week, have now been deleted.
Police said they have launched an investigation into the case, urging people not to distribute the screenshots.
Regardless of the investigation and legal consequences, the incident has greatly tarnished his image.
After the issue came to the fore, the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, a civic group, criticized Joo and hinted at taking legal action against him.
The group likened him to Jung Joon-young, a former singer who is now in prison for secretly filming women and sharing the videos with his friends in the Burning Sun nightclub scandal.
“The times have changed,” the group said.” You may think that your career will remain undamaged as one of the top actors. But women won't allow it.”