Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Jo Min Ki‘s sexual harassment and sexual assault scandal only continues to deepen, as an actor anonymously stepped forward to back actress Song Ha Neul‘s account, explain how Jo Min Ki abused his power, and added that Jo Min Ki sexually harassed and physically abused male students as well.
Hello, I went to Chungju University and I am currently active as a drama and film actor. I want to put off the story and deliver only the fact. Everything Song Ha Nuel said is true and I will give you more truths that I am aware of. He was someone who was good to those who believed in and followed him but was an awful professor to those he dislikes. During acting workshops he would say to male students “How are you gonna have sex when you’re this pathetic” “You’re never gonna be able to use your cock you’re so pathetic” “Do you have a mosquito dick?” and various things to humiliate male students sexually. To the male students he favored he would say incredibly offensive/sexual things about female classmates. If he knew his favored student was a campus couple with another student he would ask whether the sex was good, how many times they’ve done it, etc. He would also treat them like slaves who had to come and go at his bidding at any given time. To male students he dislikes he would hit them, scream at them and curse at them, making them feel inadequate sexually and as a person. There was a student who left the school because of his treatment and it was truly a shame. It was a at a point where people wouldn’t want to attend the school because of him or avoid enrolling in his classes. Jo Min Ki claims there was no pressure to attend the gatherings but he has called out specific people and ordered them to bring along so-and-so. Those who didn’t obey wouldn’t get good grades or be completely ignored/blacklisted. (The male students he favored he didn’t mind being there so there were a few people who hung out to drink with him often. That’s when the professor forced the male students to drink to the point of falling over and would call other male students out to bring them home. After they were all sent away the female students would be left alone). It was at the point where people would said if Jo Min Ki blacklists you, your career will be ruined. It was most comfortable to keep him at arms length as it was uncomfortable one way or the other. Professor Jo Min Ki was considered royalty at school and had a woman in every graduating class. (There was a large number of female students who were called “Jo Min Ki’s Woman”.) The professor’s hobby was photography so he would make the excuse of a photoshoot and secretly take female students to Japan and would contact them during school vacations. He would lure them with promises of roles and production company introductions, asking them to listen to him and pressuring them with his authority. He would give excellent roles to those he favored and gave ridiculous parts to those he did not like. Ours is a school with a long history and reputation, why would only Jo Min Ki be outed this way? Because it’s true. He committed atrocities with the authority of being an alumni and a professor of this school. He began teaching a workshop for the class of 2009 and it’s guaranteed that there are at least 2-3 victims for every class after that, perhaps more. There was discussions among the kids of how they couldn’t win against him, how careers were at stake and it became buried and left alone. This is a subjective view but it seemed that everyone either accepted his behavior, didn’t accept it and the rest just turned a blind eye. Even our seniors couldn’t risk themselves and there was nothing to be done but to skirt his reach and try to get past it quietly. We spent our days trying to stay under the radar and without turning him into an enemy and figured we would be free once we graduate. Additionally, the opinion in the industry of Jo Min Ki isn’t good. He is known to kiss ass when it comes to more successful peers and directors while ignoring his younger peers or less popular peers and he is known to chase pretty women. A friend of mine had a drama project with him and he said that Jo Min Ki is trash and hoped to never see him again. I couldn’t stand by while a man like this tries to defend himself without accepting the accusations against him properly. I hope there will no longer be victims as a result of these events. Thank you for reading my long post.
Furthermore, male students reportedly had a manual in order to protect female students from Jo Min Ki.
Now it’s been revealed that the situation was so severe that male students even had a manual to protect their fellow female students from Jo Min Ki. Some of the rules include, “Don’t leave female students alone [at Jo Min Ki’s place],” “When a female student is called, a male student must definitely go with her”, and “Don’t get drunk at the meeting (so he can stay sober to protect her)”.
Thus far, Jo Min Ki is out as a professor at Cheongju University, though the university says he was fired for sexual harassment and he says it was a resignation. Additionally, while Jo Min Ki initially took a firm stance that sexual harassment reports were untrue, even alluding to taking legal action to prove his innocence, after further accounts emerged he changed his tune and just said he would cooperate with police.
Honestly, it’s hard to keep an open mind to the possibility that he’s innocent at this juncture, mainly because the only way that would appear to be possible is some kind of massive conspiracy against him. By almost all accounts, Jo Min Ki was simply a man who wantonly abused his power, and he’s given the public no reason to believe otherwise thus far.
Update
Will Entertainment, Jo Min Ki’s agency, has cut ties with the actor and released an apology.
“With the progression of the situation, the agency has continuously recognized the severity, and while feeling heavy responsibility, we have also been taking serious consideration to decide how to respond,” the agency continued. The statement concluded, “As the incident has a large effect on society, and we have been unable to maintain clear communication with the actor, we decided to terminate our contract with actor Jo Min Ki after much discussion. We once again send our deepest apologies to everyone.”
The police stated that there are more than five alleged victims.
The police shared, “We have secured statements from many students [of Cheongju University] who testified that they were sexually harassed by Jo Min Ki. The number of affected students is greater than five.”
Welp.
