[Sportschosun reporter Kim Jun-seok] Go Young-wook, formerly of Roo’Ra, pushed back against writer So Jae-won, who had publicly criticized his social-media activity, saying the matter was “worth considering from a legal standpoint.”
On the 9th, Go Young-wook said on X (formerly Twitter), “I woke up this morning and saw an article about writer So Jae-won making baseless slanderous remarks about me. I was so dumbfounded that I was speechless for a moment.”
He claimed that So Jae-won had written about someone with whom he had no relationship without verifying the facts, warning that it was “also a matter worth considering from a legal standpoint.”
He also expressed displeasure at So Jae-won’s reference to the original novel of the film *Hope*. Go Young-wook asked, “I don’t understand why you are bringing your novel *Hope* into this and associating it with me,” adding, “Do you even know me properly?”
He went on to emphasize that he had fulfilled all the measures imposed on him after his release from prison. “I was placed under probation for three years, and I completed the electronic monitoring requirement and the restriction on going out between midnight and 6 a.m. without violating them even once,” he said. “For 10 years, I also went to the police station every year to have my photograph taken without fail.”
Regarding So Jae-won’s criticism that he should “be hiding even more than he already is,” Go Young-wook brought up his family circumstances.
Go Young-wook retorted, “My mother is currently in such poor health that she has difficulty walking for more than 10 minutes, so I have to go grocery shopping. If I hide away as you wish, will you do the grocery shopping for me instead?”
Addressing his recent social-media activity, he explained, “I am simply posting my thoughts on X,” adding, “What I write may look thoughtless, but I am posting things I had in my heart but could not say to people who were connected to me in the past.”
Earlier, writer So Jae-won strongly criticized Go Young-wook’s recent activities on social media on the 7th.
So Jae-won directly attacked him, saying, “How long are we supposed to keep listening to Go Young-wook, who committed sex crimes against minors?” He continued, “What is he so brazen and aggrieved about? How can he live as such a vicious attention seeker when he should be hiding even more than he already is?”
In particular, after explaining that he had met victims while writing the novel *Hope*, which deals with the stories of child victims of sex crimes and their families, So Jae-won pointed out that Go Young-wook’s continued social-media activity could inflict further pain on victims and their families. He demanded, “Please stop and live quietly for the sake of a normal society, the victims, and a better world.”
Go Young-wook debuted in 1994 as a member of the group Roo’Ra. He was later indicted on charges of sexually assaulting and forcibly molesting minors, and in 2013 the Supreme Court of Korea finalized his sentence at two years and six months in prison, three years of electronic location monitoring, and five years of public disclosure and notification of his personal information. After completing his sentence and being released in 2015, he was effectively barred from the broadcasting industry. Recently, however, he has continued making remarks on X while mentioning several entertainers by name.
narusi@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
