Park Seo-joon

A restaurant used as a filming location for What's Wrong with Secretary Kim continued for years to use Park's name and image in banners and advertisements. After repeated requests for removal, he sued the owner. The court awarded him 5 million won. A separate controversy concerned a figure of 6 billion won, which his agency explained was a theoretical estimate of damages rather than the amount actually claimed, which was 60 million.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

Photographs and posts from Japan triggered rumours linking Park with actress and artist Lauren Tsai. Awesome ENT confirmed that he was attending a brand event but declined to comment on his private life.

State of the evidence

Unconfirmed

Attribution

Personally implicated

Media outlets reported that Park was dating singer and YouTuber xooos, widely circulating photographs and indirect accounts. His agency declined to confirm details of his private life, and Park spoke about the pressure he felt at the prospect of exposing it publicly.

State of the evidence

Unconfirmed

Attribution

Personally implicated

At a screening of Concrete Utopia, Park declined a headband that Park Bo-young tried to hand him after a fan had given it to her. The footage triggered allegations of rudeness. Park explained that his hairstyle had been set with a great deal of hairspray, that putting on an accessory hurt his scalp and that he thought the present had been intended for his co-star.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Following substantial promotion of Park's appearance in The Marvels, fans discovered that he appeared for less than three minutes. Critics described it as a 'glorified cameo' and condemned the treatment of a very popular Asian actor.

State of the evidence

Reported by the press

A 2014 interview resurfaced in 2021 in which Park said he wanted a wife who could devote herself to the home and claimed that children deprived of affection risked relationship problems, even mentioning criminality in extreme cases. The remarks were criticised as patriarchal and stigmatising towards single-parent families.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Following the success of What's Wrong with Secretary Kim and rumours of a relationship between the two stars, Park was also accused of influencing the decision to cast Park Min-young. He denied having that casting power and stated that the decision belonged to the director.

Attribution

Directly implicated

During the national mourning following the Sewol ferry disaster, Park declined some requests for smiling photographs. After some fans felt offended, he published an apology, explaining that it was emotionally difficult to smile while the country was still awaiting news of missing people.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated