The Suwon District Prosecutors Office's Seongnam branch indicted actor O Yeong-su without detention on Thursday over the resumption (due to the victim's appeal) of an investigation into an allegation that he inappropriately touched a woman in mid-2017.
The case was originally opened in December last year. The police closed the case in April this year without filing any charges, but resumed as the victim has appealed once again.
According to a South Korean prosecutor's statement given to an international news agency, reports about O are "not factually incorrect." But the official didn't elaborate.
Following the news, local reports said South Korea's Culture Ministry had decided to stop airing a government regulatory innovation commercial featuring O.
According to South Korean media, O explained that he "held hands with the woman to show the way around a lake." He added that the apology he made to the woman last year was not an admission of guilt.
78-year-old actor O Yeong-su in January became the first South Korean to win a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor in a series for his performance in the extremely popular Netflix survival drama Squid Game.
Squid Game, which follows the story of people competing in a deadly $40-million survival game, became Netflix's most popular series launch ever, drawing 111 million fans in less than four weeks after debuting in 2021.