KUALA LUMPUR: South Korea and its K-Pop industry is currently abuzz with the #MeToo movement, a campaign which helps demonstrate the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially at workplace, which became viral last October.
Web portal Allkpop recently reported that a woman, only revealed as A, had come forward to accuse a drummer (revealed only as N) of sexually harassing her through a post on a website.
Billboard.com reported that last week alone, a few incidents had developed revolving around popular South Korean television and film stars, beginning with veteran actor Jo Min-ki who came under investigation.
Jo had been alleged to have sexually harassed several students while teaching at Cheongju University.
His agency promised he would “sincerely respond to (the) police investigation"; in the meantime, he has stepped away from the television show Children Of God.
Meanwhile, the website also reported that theatre director Lee Youn-taek had apologised after several women took to social media claiming that they were molested by him.
Coming forward as victims of sexual assault in South Korea often brings not only potential career repercussions, but also a sense of shame socially.
Many South Korean victims of sexual assault and workplace harassment have begun to turn to anonymous apps such as Blind to come forward with initial accusations.
Despite concerns that South Korean government are not doing enough to facilitate victims of sexual harassment coming forward, the movement is growing rapidly, and President Moon Jae-in has urged authorities to investigate all accusations thoroughly.
The Me Too movement was created by Tarana Burke in 2006 to encourage young women to show solidarity with one another. It went viral last year after actress Alyssa Milano used the hashtag #MeToo.