Netizens Outraged By K-Drama Casting News Due To Lee Jin Wook’s Past Sexual Assault Allegations 

On April 29, ENA announced that actress Shin Hye Sun (Mr. Queen and Welcome to Samdal-ri) and actor Lee Jin Wook (Glass Castle and Sweet Home) will lead the upcoming K-Drama To My Haeri (also known as My Dear Harry and Naui Haeriege).

To My Haeri is the literal title, with haeri meaning “dissociation” in Korean. The story focuses on Joo Eun Ho (Shin Hye Sun), an announcer who has developed DID (dissociative identity disorder) after her younger sibling disappears and she and her boyfriend break up.

A woman develops dissociative personality disorder due to the grief caused by her brother’s disappearance and separation from her long-term lover.

— MyDramaList via Naver

Shin Hye Sun (left) and Lee Jin Wook (right)

Scriptwriter Han Ga Ram, known for her acclaimed K-Dramas I’ll Go to You When the Weather is Nice and Han Yeo Reum’s Memory, is the writer behind this new K-Drama. It’s described as “healing.”

I’ll Go to You When the Weather is Nice Han Yeo Reum’s Memory

However, netizens have been saying nothing is “healing” about it since the casting announcement. Many are upset over Lee Jin Wook’s casting as the male lead, with many referring to him as a “rapist.”

Not everyone is familiar with Lee Jin Wook’s past scandal, as it occurred in 2016. That summer, he was accused of sexual assault by a woman, but he counter-sued the accuser, claiming it was a false accusation.

The other person may think it’s easy to falsely accuse me just because my face is exposed, but false accusations are a truly significant crime.

— Lee Jin Wook

He was cleared of the charges in 2016 after she claimed the allegations were false. Yet, the accuser later claimed that police coerced her and that she really was sexually assaulted. She was declared not guilty of making a false accusation a year later. So, he appealed this verdict. In 2018, the original verdict was overturned by the court, sentencing the accuser to eight months in prison for charges of false accusations and two years of probation in the second trial.

Lee Jin Wook faced the press with confidence in 2016.

Despite this, netizens found everything about this case suspicious. In both statements, the two judges who declared guilty and not guilty for the accuser appeared to have similar reasoning but viewed differently. One judge ruled that the accuser was not guilty of a false accusation in that she did not consent to have sex, while the one who declared her guilty said there was a lack of evidence that Lee raped her.

In order to determine if she can be sued for false accusation, we must first look at whether Oh was compelled or intimidated into sexual relations. It is difficult to completely eliminate the possibility that sexual relations took place against Oh’s inner wishes, but it is also not possible to say that oppressive tactics were used. As Oh has common sense, she likely knew the difference between sexual relations that one secretly does not want to engage in and rape that occurs with oppressive tactics. Therefore, Oh’s accusation against Lee is a false accusation that goes against objective truth. Since this case did not occur with the intent of extorting money, we recommend a stay of execution to the sentence.

— Court

In Korea, “lack of consent” can be proven that either the rapist used violence or the victim was incapacitated. If it appears that the victim was conscious and able to resist but only said “no,” then it is unlikely that the court will recognize it as rape.

There is room for suspicion that the two people had consensual sex. However, A not wanting sexual relations is consistent with her testimony and there is probability that sexual relations took place against A’s will.

Based on Lee Jin Wook’s testimony, there was no asking of consent for sexual relations nor was consent given by A. In light of this, the indictment and crime cannot be proven.

— Full bench

Many netizens think Lee Jin Wook is still guilty. So, with each casting news, they are alarmed. They find it hypocritical that actors, such as Yoo Ah In, have been punished and blacklisted for drugs, while actors who previously were accused of sexual assault are continually cast as male leads.

Lee Jin-wook who r@ped his friend and send her to the prison is getting work left right center
No one is editing him out of sweethome but yes we all should edit out an opioid epidemic viticm
Knowing fully well that big pharmaceutical companies are responsible for this crisis. https://t.co/ed90KRpXA1

— Iris (@IrisBarryAllen) April 21, 2024

What do you think?