[Sportschosun Reporter Kim Jun-seok] Musical actress Ock Joo-hyun revisited the so-called Okjangpan controversy that shook the entertainment industry in 2022. She said the thing she regrets most is withdrawing her lawsuit against Kim Ho-young at the time.
On the 6th, Ock Joo-hyun spoke with fans on the Bubble platform and said, "I had forgotten the word 'Okjangpan,' but it makes me laugh bitterly." She added, "I was told that it was a post written to promote a friend's father's flooring business."
She went on to claim, "I never received an apology." She said the only explanation she heard was, "Thank you for withdrawing the lawsuit. But I never intended to target my sister," along with the claim that the post was meant to promote a friend's father's flooring business.
The Okjangpan controversy Ock Joo-hyun referred to began in June 2022, when Kim Ho-young posted on his social media account, "Chaos is an old word. Now it's Okjangpan."
As suspicions of personal-network casting surrounding the musical Elisabeth were already emerging, the post quickly drew speculation that it was aimed at Ock Joo-hyun.
Ock Joo-hyun and EMK Musical Company, the producer of Elisabeth, later denied the allegations. Ock Joo-hyun also filed a defamation complaint against Kim Ho-young.
As the controversy grew, Kim Ho-young explained that the post was not meant to attack Ock Joo-hyun. He said it had been exaggerated after he wrote it to promote a flooring business run by a friend's father.
The two sides later settled the legal dispute, and Ock Joo-hyun withdrew the complaint.
Ock Joo-hyun also said the controversy caused significant damage to her advertising contracts.
She explained, "An ad for a diet probiotic was taken down just five days after it began airing because of the incident." She added, "After every performance, I had to go to the brand headquarters for meetings. If I could not prove that I was innocent, I would have had to pay triple the penalty fee. I had no choice but to file the lawsuit to prove my innocence."
She continued, "After I withdrew the lawsuit, I no longer had to pay the penalty fee. But June was the most important month for advertising, and the advertiser suffered major losses."
"What I regret most after all of this is withdrawing the lawsuit," she said. "My nicknames, once 'Oxyclean' and 'corn,' suddenly changed to 'Okjangpan.' That makes me sad."
narusi@sportschosun.com
