[Sportschosun Reporter Park A-ram] Ko Young-wook, formerly of the group Roo'ra, looked back on memories with his former agency head and left a message urging Roo'ra members and broadcaster Tak Jae-hoon to visit him.
On the 19th, Ko Young-wook posted a long message on his personal account, saying, "I met with Roo'ra's boss today, talked a lot about old times, and had a great time."
He also shared several anecdotes involving Tak Jae-hoon from the past. Ko recalled how the agency head personally gave Tak Jae-hoon his name, and how he once said Roo'ra would not appear on a show unless Tak Jae-hoon, who was then unknown, was also invited. He then wrote, "So because of Tak Jae-hoon, Roo'ra had no choice but to ride the 'Yeongja Bus' together."
He also brought up a story about taking Tak Jae-hoon along when the agency head went overseas, as well as an incident involving a bag prepared as his birthday gift. He recalled, "The boss told Tak Jae-hoon, who was heading back to Korea first, to hand over the birthday present he had bought for me, but there was an incident where my bag gift was stolen without telling me."
He also shared behind-the-scenes stories about Roo'ra's debut. Ko said there had been one more female member who had even finished the jacket album shoot but did not ultimately join the group. He added, "I even heard for the first time that they had planned to put both of them in the back, have them play bongos and dance like Mikey Romeo, a guest member on Roo'ra's fifth album, and make me the main focus."
Looking back on the early days of the group, he wrote, "In fact, the first broadcast of Totojul was with me rapping alone while crying, with the Roo'ra first album track 'The Reason I Can't Sleep,' which was truly a 'crying rap,' but..."
At the end of the post, he also addressed Tak Jae-hoon and the Roo'ra members. He said, "Tak Jae-hoon, Roo'ra guys. Do you really think you could have become this successful and lived this well without the boss?" He added, "If you want to keep even the last bit of decency, contact the boss and go visit him. He may not have much time left."
Meanwhile, Ko Young-wook debuted in 1994 as a member of the co-ed group Roo'ra. However, he was indicted for indecent assault and rape involving three minors over a period of about two years starting in July 2010, and in 2013 the Supreme Court of Korea finalized a sentence of two years and six months in prison, three years of electronic monitoring, and five years of public disclosure of his personal information.
Ko served his sentence at the Seoul Southern Detention Center, Anyang Correctional Institution, and Seoul Southern Detention Center before being released in 2015. At the time, he said, "I reflected a lot during my time in prison," and apologized, saying, "I am sorry for causing controversy as a celebrity."
After his release, he opened an Instagram account in November 2020, but it was shut down following user reports. A YouTube channel he launched in 2024 also stopped operating. He has not issued any separate official statement regarding this post.
tokkig@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
