Park Seong-hoon → Nam Yun-soo, a series of male actors ‘posting pornography’… What is the possibility of punishment? [Science X Issue]

As controversies over the age of 19 regarding male celebrities' SNS are repeated, the public's gaze is becoming colder.

On the 13th, actor Nam Yoon-soo was criticized for reposting a post on his social media (SNS) account containing an inflatable structure with a woman's important parts clearly visible.

Nam Yoon-soo explained through a fan communication platform, "I was driving. What is this repost? Did I get hacked?" Nevertheless, as the controversy did not die down, Nam Yoon-soo apologized on social media, saying, "Today, I belatedly confirmed that an unpleasant post had been reposted without my knowledge. I am upset and sincerely sorry for causing inconvenience to many people. I will be more careful in the future."

As many male celebrities have previously received a lot of criticism for uploading posts or participating in voting under the age of 19, it seems inevitable that Nam Yoon-soo will also suffer damage to his image.

Last December, actor Park Sung-hoon caused a lot of shock when he uploaded a Japanese AV cover parodying ‘Squid Game’ on social media and then deleted it. The agency explained, “The actor uploaded it by mistake while checking the DM (direct message) window, and he received a lot of messages related to the photo, so he tried to share it on the company account to raise awareness of the problem.”

However, despite the agency's quick explanation, criticism continued to pour in, and he was eventually forced to withdraw from his next project, 'The Tyrant's Chef.'

Meanwhile, actor Kim Seong-cheol was embroiled in a sexual harassment controversy last February when he participated in a vote on liking or disliking girl group members on an account that posted provocative girl group-related content. The account was dealing with potentially problematic content, such as posting a slow video that emphasized a specific member's body part, and netizens criticized it, saying, "I don't understand why the official account participated in such a vote."

In response, the agency, Story J Company, began to explain, saying, “We did not know it was a controversial account and canceled it immediately after becoming aware of it.”

When the public, especially female fans, see a celebrity they support engaging in or inadvertently sharing content that sexualizes the female body, they may feel a strong sense of betrayal and discomfort rather than accepting it as a simple mistake.

Also, there is a problem with dismissing all of these things as ‘mistakes.’ In particular, there is a possibility that posts shared by them by mistake could lead to legal problems.

Attorney Kim Dong-jin of Daeryun Law Firm (Lihan) said, “The act of posting (pornography) on SNS that can be viewed by an unspecified number of people can be punished under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection (Article 44-7). Depending on the purpose of the act and the severity of the case, there is a possibility of being punished under the Special Act on Punishment of Sexual Crimes (Article 13).”

However, in the cases in question, they claim it was a ‘simple mistake’, so “in order to be legally punished, a process of proving intent is first necessary.”

Even though immediate legal punishment may have been avoided, the mere fact of posting pornography on SNS where everyone can see it can have a negative impact on society.

Cultural critic Ha Jae-geun said, “Depending on the intention, it may be divided into whether the act is wrong or not, but the result is the image of a ‘19+,’ so it can have a negative impact on the general public and especially teenagers.” He added, “Celebrities need to be responsible when managing and posting on SNS.”

In this way, personal space called SNS can sometimes become a testing ground for the public. Celebrities whose activities are based on the public's trust seem to require more careful management and responsibility.

Online reporter Lee Min-ju (leemj@kyunghyang.com)

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