Celebrity bodybuilder beats driver, apologizes

Hwang Chul-soon in Comedy Big League / Courtesy of Naver blog

Celebrity bodybuilder Hwang Chul-soon, 32, has admitted hitting a car driver, damaging the victim’s eye socket, news outlets reported Tuesday.

Hwang, who earned fame as the man who hits a gong in tvN’s “Comedy Big League”, beat the male driver after a car accident. He has apologized, the reports said.

Hwang detailed the incident in a Facebook posting on Tuesday. He said the accident happened in December in Gangnam-gu district, southern Seoul. He said it turned into a fight and he ended up hitting the driver.

/ Courtesy of Facebook

Hwang said he offered 10 million won to the victim but the victim wanted 50 million won because Hwang was a public figure.

The victim’s injury required medical treatment over six weeks, the reports said.

Hwang also said in the post that a reporter from a national TV network who interviewed him got the story wrong, saying that Hwang got into a brawl in a liquor shop.

Hwang, who earned a champion’s title at two international body building contests in 2010 and 2012, said of the TV report: “I can make apologies and take responsibilities whenever necessary but I won’t stand people who abuse my public fame and make deceitful statements about me.”

Prosecutors are investigating the accident because details described by Hwang and the victim differ.