Seo Yea-ji apologizes 10 months after scandal involving ex-boyfriend

Actress Seo Yea-ji / Courtesy of Gold Medalist

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Actress Seo Yea-ji has issued a public apology 10 months after being accused of gaslighting her former boyfriend, actor Kim Jung-hyun, bullying at school and falsifying her educational background.

In April of last year, the actress was embroiled in claims that she showed controlling and manipulative behavior toward Kim when he was filming MBC's romance drama, “Time,” in 2018. The actress allegedly pressured him to “change the script to delete romantic scenes and physical contact” with his co-star Seohyun. Seo has also come under fire for alleged bullying at school, mistreating staff and falsifying her educational background.

Although Seo's agency denied the accusations by describing the scandal as having resulted from her “emotional immaturity,” the actress has remained silent for nearly a year. Following the scandal, she withdrew from OCN's drama project, “Island.”

“First of all, I sincerely apologize for conveying my feelings so late through these written words. I have been taking some time to reflect on myself after facing the criticism,” Seo said via her agency, Gold Medalist, Sunday.

“I would like to apologize for making many uncomfortable and being hurt by me. I'm so sorry for any disappointment. All of this resulted from my immature attitude and shortcomings. I promise I will behave more carefully in the future to show you a mature version of myself.”

The abrupt apology comes ahead of Seo's return to the small screen. The 32-year-old actress is scheduled to appear in the upcoming tvN drama series, “Eve,” which will start airing in the first half of 2022. In the upcoming drama, Seo will play the role of Lee Ra-el, who seduces the CEO of a powerful conglomerate, Kang Yoon-kyum (Park Byung-eun), causing him to go through a divorce lawsuit costing 2 trillion won ($1.66 billion).

Seo debuted with the sitcom, “Potato Star 2013QR3,” in 2013 and rose to fame through her roles in OCN's crime drama, “Save Me,” (2017) and tvN's hit romance series, “It's Okay to Not Be Okay” (2020).