Actor Bae Jin Woong Responds To Report That He Sexually Assaulted A Junior Actress

Actor Bae Jin Woong has responded to accusations of sexual assault.

Warning: descriptions of sexual harassment and assault. 

On January 11, Sports Kyunghyang reported that an unnamed male actor “A” was being investigated by the police for sexual harassment and attempted rape of “B,” a female actress and model with whom he was acquainted. This incident was reported to have taken place on December 23 in Gyeonggi Province.

Sports Kyunghyang contacted a representative of B, who stated, “On the night of the incident, A decoyed B by suggesting that she join him and some other acquaintances for a drink. A lured B to a summer house in Gyeonggi Province that he had inherited from his father. The location was in an isolated spot, and A took advantage of the fact that B had no car and drove her there himself. No one else was there, unlike what he had promised. B didn’t know that until she had arrived.”

B’s representative continued, “B’s friend was on their way to the house when A suddenly grabbed B from behind and started sexually molesting her. B tried to stop him and he made some lewd jokes and took off his pants and did something disgusting. A continued to force himself on B, and in trying to get away from him, B sustained bruises all over her body. She also sustained scars on her chest.”

According to the report, A and B had known each other for five years, and B had previously dated A’s close friend. After the incident, B called the police and underwent questioning as the victim. B is also reportedly receiving psychological counseling due to the incident. A reportedly will undergo police questioning on January 16.

Sports Kyunghyang stated that A was an actor who had been in the movies “Man of Will” and “Beasts Clawing at Straws,” as well as the drama “Good Casting.” After the report, other media outlets began speculating that Bae Jin Woong was the actor in question.

On January 12, Bae Jin Woong’s lawyers released a statement denying the reports of sexual assault. The statement reads:

This is Park Ji Hoon, from the legal firm Yoo Han, acting as Bae Jin Woong’s legal representative.

On January 11, 2020, a media outlet reported that actor Bae Jin Woong was being investigated by the police for sexual harassment and attempted rape of B, a junior actress. (Although Bae Jin Woong was not mentioned by name, the report made it clear through other details that Bae Jin Woong was the person in the report.) Afterwards, several media outlets used Bae Jin Woong’s real name in repeating the contents of this original report.

However, all of the reports about Bae Jin Woong are false. It is true that B has filed a criminal complaint against Bae Jin Woong, accusing him of sexual assault, but B’s accusation is an obvious falsehood. We are currently at work securing various pieces of evidence about this. Also, before the report even came out, our legal firm had filed a criminal complaint against B for indecent assault.

These media outlets did not even make the slightest attempt to check the truth with Bae Jin Woong’s representatives, and instead reported on B’s malicious and baseless falsehoods as if they were truth. This kind of behavior shows that the media seems to have abandoned any trace of common sense and conscience.

We inform you that we intend to take strong legal action against those who spread baseless, false rumors about Bae Jin Woong.

Also on January 12, Sports Kyunghyang published another report featuring an interview with B.

Asked why she had gone to Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, she said, “He was someone I had known for five years. My ex-boyfriend is his close friend. He called me and said I should join all of our friends there for a drink. He said it had to be Pocheon, so I said I didn’t have a car. He came to get me. He said that it was a place that a famous female actress had been the day before, so I felt a little safer. But when I arrived, there was no one there. It was in an isolated spot, and I got scared so I called someone I knew to come. Bae Jin Woong got mad at me for doing that.”

She continued, “I had a beer and waited about an hour for my friend. I had dinner and a drink. I don’t know how much time had passed, but suddenly Bae Jin Woong appeared in nothing but his red inner clothing. He grabbed me from behind and started acting lewd. He also made lots of lewd jokes. I couldn’t run away because it was in such an isolated spot, so I could only wait for my friend. But then he started putting his hand inside me. He took off his pants… you can imagine what happened next. He did ‘that’ all over my face. In his counter-complaint against me, he blames me for that action. He says that I touched ‘that’ part of him. He grabbed my breasts hard and gave me scars on my chest. I screamed and thrashed around.”

Asked if she could clearly remember the incident, she replied, “How could I forget something like that after drinking one drink? He said stuff like, ‘Your breasts feel like you’ve had surgery. They don’t feel good.’ I saw articles where he’s trying to do media play, saying that the word ‘rape’ had never been used. But my friend heard what he said. There were even worse comments. In front of my friend, he said, ‘If you weren’t here, I could have gotten her pregnant with twins.’ He must have been insane to say stuff like that. I still remember those comments and wake up in a panic in the middle of the night.”

Asked why she had been late in reporting the incident, she said, “I left that house at dawn. I couldn’t understand why that had happened to me. I contacted him to see if he would apologize, but he didn’t respond. It was such a shock that I fell ill for a while. After that, I reported the incident to the police at Gangnam and underwent questioning. I can’t believe that my attacker has counter-sued me. Why would I commit indecent assault against Bae Jin Woong? He’s 187 cm [about 6’2″] and physically strong. How could I overpower him? It’s going to be a difficult [legal] fight, but I’ll fight until the end.”

Source (1) (2) (3) (4)