'Squid Game' Star Oh Yeong-su Arrested, Indicted for Sexual Misconduct

Korean actor Oh Yeong-su has been indicted on sexual misconduct charges, per Variety.

Best known for his Golden Globe-winning performance in the hit Netflix series Squid Game, the 78-year-old actor was charged by Suwon, South Korean prosecutors on Thursday. He has been accused of inappropriately touching a woman in 2017, which the alleged victim first told authorities about in December 2021. The case was closed in April 2022, but it was later reopened following a request from the victim. When questioned about the alleged incident, Oh denied the accusations.

"I just held her hand to guide the way around the lake," said Oh in a statement provided to Korean broadcaster JTBC. "I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn’t make a fuss about it but it doesn’t mean that I admit the charges.”

A Suwon court official said “everything reported by local media is not factually correct.” A TV commercial starring Oh from the Korean ministry of culture has been pulled after the news of the indictment was publicly released on Friday.

Born in 1944, Oh has been acting in theater since the ‘60s, and later transitioned to TV and film roles by the ‘80s. One of his most notable roles is as the lead in the 2003 film Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, which was directed by the late Kim Ki-duk, who was accused of rape numerous times prior to his death from COVID-19 in 2020. Oh later gained fame for his role as the oldest participant in the titular survival competition in Netflix’s Squid Game, which earned him a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the 2022 Emmys.