[Yoo Ah-in Instagram]
The management agency of Yoo Ah-in, one of South Korea's most promising actors, threatened legal action against what it called malicious, libelous and groundless online posts related to the exemption of his mandatory military service.
"We will sternly deal with all malicious activities" defaming Yoo, insulting his character, and damaging his career and image, UAA said in a statement, calling for an immediate stop to groundless and illegal slandering and a malignant online controversy.
Last week the actor, whose real name is Eom Hong-sik, was pronounced unsuitable for obligatory military service after he failed a series of medical tests for conscription, sparking a heated debate. Yoo did not react and said metaphorically in his latest Instagram post: "The sun will rise, in every morning."
The 30-year-old has been diagnosed with a benign bone tumor in his humerus, a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. The tumor has been at its early stage. He was eager to join the army but enlistment has been put off due to his physical status for two years. Last Tuesday, conscription authorities ruled that the actor was exempted from military service.
All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18-35 are required to serve in the military for about two years because the Korean peninsula is still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice with no peace treaty signed between the two Koreas. Yoo, who rose to fame in television series Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010), ranked second in Korea Power Celebrity by Forbes last year.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
