Korean-American actor and drama “Pachinko” star Jin Ha has deleted his social media accounts a day after he apologized for his Tumblr blog where he uploaded illegally taken photos of elderly Korean women with descriptions that mocked and sexualized them.
As of March 27, Jin Ha’s Instagram and Twitter accounts had been deleted while the contents of personal website had also been deleted except for the apology he wrote about his blog.
“Pachinko” was released on Apple TV Plus on March 25 and in the drama, Jin Ha plays the role of Solomon Baek, the grandson of Sunja (played by Oscar best supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung).
But on the day the drama was released, a Korean netizen accused Jin Ha of illegal photography and sexual harassment through his Tumblr blog "Korean Flowers in Bloom.”
Jin Ha uploaded about 100 photos of elderly Korean women in subways taken without their consent and knowledge. The contents of the blog were published from July 2010 to September 2011.
On his personal website, Jin Ha wrote that “Korean Flowers in Bloom” is “a photography blog I created back in 2011 while I was living in South Korea. Please enjoy responsibly.”
ILLEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY, SEXUAL HARASSMENT
A Korean netizen posted online on March 25 with the title “Korean-American actor in ‘Pachinko’ posted on blog of illegal filming of Korean grandmothers (post not taken down).”
“Korean-American actor Jin Ha, who appeared in ‘Pachinko,’ uploaded illegally filmed photos of Korean grandmothers on his portfolio website. Illegally taken photos and self-comments were posted for two years from 2010 to 2011, and have been released for more than 10 years until 2022,” the netizen wrote.
The netizen cited two posts from Jin Ha’s blog as sexual harassment against the elderly Korean women.
One is a post dated Aug. 16, 2010 in which Jin Ha uploaded a photo of a sleeping grandmother and wrote, “Working with such a provocative model, I found it hard to keep myself and my concupiscence under control.”
Another is a post dated Aug. 9, 2010 in which Jin Ha uploaded a photo of a woman wearing a blouse with large floral prints and wrote, “Now we have an excuse to stare directly at her right nipple.”
“Illegal filming is also a problem, and it is very unpleasant to write down what you feel as if you were criticizing grandmothers. I am writing this in hopes that the actor apologizes to the victims and takes down the post because it has become a public issue,” the Korean added.
APOLOGY
After the controversy erupted, Jin Ha deleted his Tumblr blog and uploaded an apology on his website on March 26.
“Hello. Thank you for this opportunity to address a failing in my past that was long overdue,” Jin Ha wrote.
He said, “You are absolutely right. My ‘Korean Flowers in Bloom’ Tumblr account from 2011 should not have been made at all. It was a breach of privacy for the elder women featured, and many of my captions were inappropriate. I deeply regret my actions. and apologize for them.”
“I was wrong to take these photos 11 years ago, and was wrong to post them online. I was negligent in allowing these photos and captions of people I did not know personally to stay online. We requested Tumblr to delete this account immediately- which they have done. ‘Korean Flowers in Bloom’ is no longer online,” he added.
Jin Ha’s Tumblr blog was no longer accessible as of March 26.
“I sincerely apologize to the senior women whom I photographed. I apologize, as well, to the viewers whom I offended with this Tumblr account. My lack of judgement in 2011 has been pointed out by readers wiser than I have proved to be and for that I am grateful,” he said.
Jin Ha added, “Thank you again for granting me this chance to rectify this blunder of a blog and for bringing it to my attention when it should have been clear to me from the beginning. I will work diligently to learn from this mistake so that I may never repeat it going forward.”
South Korea’s law “Act On Special Cases Concerning The Punishment, Etc. of Sexual Crimes” states that “a person who takes photographs or videos of another person's body, which may cause any sexual stimulus or shame against the will of the person who was shot, by using a camera or other mechanism which has functions similar thereto, shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won ,” according to a copy of the law posted on the Korean Law Information Center website.
The law added that “a person who distributes, sells, leases, provides, or openly exhibits or shows (hereinafter referred to as 'distribution, etc.') a photograph taken under paragraph (1) or its duplicate (including a duplicate of its duplicate; hereafter in this paragraph, the same shall apply) or a person who makes the distribution, etc. of a photograph or video taken under paragraph (1) or its duplicate against the will of the person shot after the photograph or video taken under paragraph (1) was not against the will of the person shot (including a person who takes his/her body himself/herself) as at the time such photograph or video was taken, shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won.”