"I liked it too" — Famous musical actor releases recording of woman who accused him of sexual harassment, six years later

[Financial News] Musical actor Han Ji-sang, 44, has spoken out about sexual harassment allegations from six years ago, which recently led Sungkyunkwan University to withdraw his appointment as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Acting and Performing Arts.

On the 13th, through his YouTube channel, Han said, "I decided to film this video to clearly address the parts that have remained unresolved until now," and went on to give a detailed account of his conflict and legal dispute with a female fan, referred to as A, which first surfaced in 2020.
Han claimed that he met A through an introduction from a senior colleague at the time, that they were mutually interested in each other, and that there was natural physical contact during the course of their meetings.
He recalled, "In 2017, a senior actor I was performing with handed me a screenshot of an Instagram DM, saying a woman had asked to be introduced. The woman had sent her job, contact information, and a message saying she wanted to meet privately, so when I had some free time after the production ended, I reached out. We started talking online and then met in person."
He continued, "We communicated well, and the mood was one of growing mutual interest. We drank together as well. As things relaxed, we both felt attracted to each other, expressed it, and there was physical contact," adding, "It was not one-sided or forced. The physical contact arose as part of expressing mutual interest. We parted that night in a tender mood and continued to stay in touch afterward."
According to Han, they later ended the relationship due to differences in values. However, two years later, in 2019, he received a message from A claiming that what had happened was "one-sided sexual harassment."
Han said, "Time passed, and on September 10, 2019, I got a text message in the middle of a performance. A huge number of messages came in, containing extremely serious claims, including false information."
He went on, "Even the way she addressed me had changed to 'actor.' She described it as if it had been one-sided sexual harassment. As an actor, I was frightened at the time, so I tried to apologize and calm her down, but A demanded either 500 million to 1 billion won in cash or a year of publicly dating her," adding, "In the end, the requested compensation was adjusted to 300 million won, but I decided it was unreasonable and refused."
Han also released an audio recording of A talking about what had happened back then. In the recording, A can be heard saying, "I had feelings for you as an actor," and, "It was not that you sexually harassed me. It was not something you did one-sidedly, and I also liked it at the time."
As A's excessive demands continued, Han and his agency filed a criminal complaint against her on suspicion of attempted coercion. However, the prosecution service decided not to indict, citing the particular nature of relationships between men and women and insufficient evidence that her actions rose to the level of criminal intimidation. Afterward, A posted about the matter online, Han was labeled as the perpetrator, and he ended up stepping down from the production he had been appearing in.
More recently, he was appointed as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Acting and Performing Arts at Sungkyunkwan University, but after strong backlash from current students, the university ultimately withdrew the appointment.
Han stated that he has now filed complaints against malicious commenters on charges including defamation and obstruction of business. He added, "There will be a judgment by the judicial authorities, so I ask that you wait and see."


moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter