Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Welp, guess the irony is completely fulfilled now, as The Glory director Ahn Gil Ho has issued an apology for bullying in his high school days.
I am lawyer Kim Mun Hui of law firm JIPYONG who is representing director Ahn Gil Ho. We ask for your understating in that there was a slight delay in time from the initial report to announcing our stance.
Director Ahn Gil Ho had a girlfriend whom he started dating at the time while studying abroad in the Philippines in 1996, and when he heard that his girlfriend became subject to teasing at school due to him, he momentarily got emotional and gave another person an unforgettable wound.
[Director Ahn Gil Ho] asks for forgiveness from deep within his heart to those who were hurt by this incident. If given the opportunity, he would like the meet in person, or at least contact through phone, to convey his apology.
[Director Ahn Gil Ho] apologizes for causing controversy over an unfortunate incident.
I mean, an apology was probably due anyway since the reaction was over the top. However, what changed the equation as to whether his reaction was understandable or not was the ex-girlfriend defending her friends by clarifying the teasing was more typical in nature rather than like sexual harassment.
Contrary to what people think, my friends didn’t tease me to the extremes. It was more like the usual joking around and bickering among friends. If I knew my friends would be assaulted like that, I wouldn’t have told him about it at all.
She also revealed that her friends used to tease the director by calling him “angilo,” which means “not long” in Korean. Though it might seem like sexual innuendo, according to “B,” none of them were old enough to understand sexual jokes. The term was actually used to make fun of his short legs since discussions about short and long legs were a trendy subject back then.
Well at least the disclaimer following what seemed like just defending his girlfriend from possible sexual harassment came in handy, as it’s hard not to take her word for it since none of us were there. Though I swear every time some seemingly sexual reference goes public in Korea, the denials that they were sexual seem absurd. That’s like … 8th grade in America? Yeah, they definitely knew what that was inferring.
Again though, I still find the most unsettling thing about this that a high school junior (11th grade) was dating an 8th grader.
As for what impact this has, I assume it’ll blunt Ahn Gil Ho’s career momentum in what should be a springboard to further success for him. But for The Glory itself I doubt it’ll have much impact as long as the drama itself continues to roll along in terms of public love.
