Korean actor Kim Seon-ho’s agency finally revealed the details of his contract after speculations grew stemming from the abortion scandal that turned his life and career upside down.
Salt Entertainment issued a statement on Oct. 25 to declare that Kim Seon-ho’s contract will not expire until 2023.
The agency was criticized for being too slow in responding to the online post of a woman who was later confirmed to be his former girlfriend who revealed on Oct. 17 that the actor forced her to abort their baby in July 2020 with the promise of marriage and that they would live together.
Salt Entertainment made a statement on Oct. 19, or two days later, but only to say that it was verifying the details of the online post.
Kim Seon-ho broke his silence and issued an apology on Oct. 20, admitting that he and the woman were in a relationship and “I have hurt her with my carelessness and inconsiderate actions.”
“Though we were in a relationship with good feelings to each other, I have hurt her with my carelessness and inconsiderate actions. I would like to apologize in person, but I am currently waiting some time to ask forgiveness. I would like to say sorry with this writing,” the star said, the Korea Herald reported.
In its latest statement, Salt Entertainment said, “We would like to deliver accurate information regarding the contract period between actor Kim Seon-ho and Salt Entertainment. First of all, the contents of the contract are confidential between the parties, but due to ongoing issues, we will inform you through agreement with the parties.”
It said it was in July 2018 when Kim Seon-ho and the agency had their first meeting through an introduction of broadcasting officials.
“Through mutual agreement, we decided to discuss the extension contract after working together from September 2018 to September 2019. After that, we should have discussed the extension contract in June 2019, or three months before the contract expired, but the actor’s activities increased and because the trust between the actor and the company was strong, 2020 came while we were working together,” it said.
Salt Entertainment said upon Kim Seon-ho’s request, the contract was renewed for three years with the duration from March 2020 to March 2023. An annex to an agreement was also added that automatically extends the contract by one year at a time until March 2027 if there is no mutual disagreement between the parties.
The revelations of Kim Seon-ho’s former girlfriend put his career in tatters. Kim Seon-ho rose in popularity when he starred in “Start-Up” in 2020. He starred in the recently concluded “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha.”
The woman’s online post was published just hours before “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” aired its 16th and final episode on Oct. 17. The following days were supposed to be a celebration of the drama’s success with Kim Seon-ho and Shin Min-a scheduled for media interviews but they were cancelled because of the abortion scandal.
Because of the scandal, advertisers removed Kim Seon-ho from their social media posts. He was removed from the Korean reality TV show “2 Days & 1 Night” and was dropped from his films. The publication of the “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha Photo Essay” book was also cancelled.
On Oct. 20, his former girlfriend updated her online post to say that Kim Seon-ho directly apologized to her.
“I am sorry that my writing has caused unintentional damage to many people. There was a time when both he and I truly loved each other but I also feel bad to see him collapse in an instant due to some of my extreme posts. I received an apology from him and it seems that there was a misunderstanding between us,” she said.
She added, “I hope that no more false information will be revealed or that my or his story will be expanded and reproduced. My heart is heavy because it seems that this incident has caused a lot of damage to many people. This post will be down soon.” She deleted her post afterwards.