The Most Hated Celebrities in South Korea

On August 27, Koreaboo reported on a survey conducted by Real Research Korea, an application that allows South Korean citizens to vote on various topics to collect data for research purposes. The survey aimed to identify the most disliked South Korean celebrities involved in scandals whom the public never wants to see return to the entertainment industry.

Participants were allowed to vote for multiple celebrities at once, and the survey received a total of 3,507 votes. From this, the system identified the five most despised former stars in South Korea today.

Topping the list, tied for first place, were Seungri (former member of Big Bang) and solo singer Go Young Wook, both receiving 66.4% of the votes. Once one of K-pop’s top idols, Seungri became a “public enemy” after being embroiled in the Burning Sun scandal. The South Korean media has described this as one of the most shocking scandals in the entertainment industry, if not the biggest. In 2019, Seungri, the youngest member of Big Bang, was implicated in various criminal activities at the Burning Sun nightclub in Seoul, including sexual offenses.

In May 2022, Seungri was sentenced to one year and six months in prison. This ruling sparked outrage among the South Korean public, as many felt it was too lenient for someone accused of nine crimes, including sexual assault. After his release, Seungri continued to provoke controversy with his indulgent lifestyle, showing no remorse for his past actions.

Go Young Wook, while not as famous as Seungri, faced equally serious accusations. He was convicted of sexually assaulting three minors between 2010 and 2012. After being exposed, Go was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 2013. Born in 1976, he was also required to wear an ankle monitor for three years after his release and had his name listed on the public sex offender registry for five years.

Released in 2015, Go attempted to return to social media in 2020 but failed due to Instagram’s policy banning sex offenders. In July, he launched a YouTube channel, but it was quickly taken down due to public backlash.

Next on the list is Steve Yoo (also known as Yoo Seung Jun), a popular solo artist in the 1990s and early 2000s, with 55.8% of the votes against him. The reason for Yoo’s fall from grace differs from the top two but is still severe. At the peak of his career, Yoo had publicly pledged to fulfill his mandatory military service (a requirement for all South Korean men aged 18 to 35). However, his actions contradicted his words when he changed his nationality to American to avoid conscription. As a result, he was expelled from South Korea and banned from re-entering the country permanently. To this day, Yoo continues to fight against the South Korean government to return to his homeland.

Ranked fourth is singer G.NA, the only woman on the list, with 40.8% of the votes.

In 2016, the 1986-born singer was caught up in a prostitution scandal. She was accused of receiving around 35 million won (approximately 26,400 USD) for sexual relations with an unidentified businessman in the United States.

G.NA denied the allegations, explaining that she met the businessman at the request of a friend who worked as a broker, as a way to repay a debt the friend had helped her with during a difficult time. While the friend intended the meeting to settle a debt, G.NA thought it was for romantic reasons.

The final person on the list is singer MC Mong, with 37.6% of the votes. Like Steve Yoo, he was accused of attempting to avoid military service. However, instead of changing his nationality, he allegedly had healthy teeth extracted. Before this, the singer had delayed his enlistment for seven years. Although a court sentenced MC Mong to one year of probation in 2010, it could not definitively prove that he removed his teeth to avoid military service.

Banned from appearing on major South Korean television networks, MC Mong continued his music career, even achieving success on various music charts (with his album Miss Me Or Diss Me in 2014). However, in the eyes of the South Korean public, he remains a figure of disdain.