Squid Game's Oh Yeong Su accused of sexual harassment, released without detention

Actor Oh Yeong Su who is popularly known as Player 001 in Squid Game, has been charged with sexual misconduct. He was later released without any detention. The 78-year-old is alleged to have inappropriately touched a woman in mid-2017.

According to Variety, a complaint was lodged by the alleged victim in December 2021. South Korean news agency said that although the case was shut in April, it was reopened again at the victim's request later.

The Squid Game actor has rejected all allegations against him during interrogation by the prosecutors looking into the case. Variety quoted the actor's statement to JTBC in the matter, "I just held her hand to guide the way around the lake. I apologised because [the person] said she wouldn't make a fuss about it but it doesn't mean that I admit the charges."

Oh Yeong Su is among the most popular actors in South Korea, thanks to the global popularity of the Netflix survival game show. Born in 1944 in Kaesong, which is now a part of North Korea, the actor has performed in over 200 stage plays, including the popular Korean adaptation of A Streetcar named Desire.

He also appeared in several shows and films, such as Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring, A Little Monk and Soul Guardians. Besides Squid Game, he also appeared in drama series like Chocolate, god of War, The Great Queen Seondeok and Moon River.

His popular act remains Squid Game which was released in September 2021. The show also starred Lee Jung Jae, Park Hae Soo, Lee Byung Hun, Lee Ji Ha, Anupam Tripathi among others.

The show fetched him a Golden Globe Award in the category of The Best Supporting Actor in a series, mini series of television films. He also had an Emmy nomination.