K-drama idol Ji Soo of River Where the Moon Rises appears to admit to accusations of sexual assault and bullying

[UPDATED: MAR 5]

The production team for the drama series River Where the Moon Rises has announced that they have dropped Ji Soo from the show. Details such as when his replacement will appear in the series have not been announced.

Allkpop reported that actor Na In-woo, 26, is in talks to replace him as the lead character On Dal. Filming has been halted for the time being. 

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When you're famous and you have skeletons in your closet, you can bet your big pay cheque that your dirty little secrets will come out.

Recently, there has been a string of incidents where South Korean celebrities have been called out for being bullies when they were younger. Not all turn out to be true. But one, in particular, seemed to have resulted in an implicit admission from the transgressor himself.

On Tuesday (March 2), rising K-drama idol Ji Soo was accused in an online forum of being a bully in school. The actor stars as the main character On Dal in the popular television series River Where the Moon Rises, now showing on Viu.

According to a report on Soompi, the netizen claimed to have attended the same school as the 27-year-old and was a victim of his actions.

"The word 'bullying' is not enough to describe everything. I was a victim of all kinds of school violence, like being made an outcast, violence, blackmailing, insults, and abusive language," they wrote, adding that Ji Soo and his friends forced their classmates to buy them cigarettes and even threw food at other students.

Other netizens claiming to be Ji Soo's high school classmates soon came out of the woodwork and accused the actor of sexually assaulting his fellow students, reported Allkpop.

One wrote: "He was a 'womaniser', and he even filmed himself having intercourse with a middle school student in a bathroom. He shared that video with his clique. He would know what I'm talking about if he sees this." 

ALSO READ: Why is the K-pop bullying scandal blowing up now and what will become of it?

Another revealed: "He even forced male students to do him a 'favour', ejaculating on the victim's face. I have a recorded conversation with the victim about the incident as proof."

Ji Soo's agency KeyEast put out a statement yesterday.

"We are looking at this incident seriously and will do our utmost to verify the facts... In addition to confirming the facts, the agency and our actor will do our best to resolve this matter. We apologise for causing concern to many people," they wrote.

Keyeast also asked that people not spread unverified information about these accusations and that they would like to reach out to the victims and accusers to hear their side of the story.

In response to the allegations, Ji Soo posted a handwritten apology letter on Instagram earlier today which appears to imply guilt and that the accusations are true.

He wrote: "I sincerely apologise to the people who suffered because of me. There is no excuse for my past misconduct. They were things that cannot be forgiven."

The full translated version of the letter can be found here.

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Things aren't looking too good for him, as Korean news outlet YTN reported that filming for River Where the Moon Rises stopped today as the team is taking the day off to decide on how they're going to proceed. There might even be a possibility that Ji Soo may be dropped from the show.

According to YTN, a representative from the show said: "We are going to hold a morning meeting about whether Ji Soo appears or not. We will disclose our position as soon as it is decided."

The drama's broadcaster KBS reportedly received over 5,500 petitions from viewers demanding Ji Soo's exit. YTN added that the drama has completed filming around 18 out of the series' 20 episodes.

bryanlim@asiaone.com