From declining interviews to making remarks, six Korean celebrities were named as having the “worst manners” in 2023.
Korean media outlet Sports Kyunghyang revealed the results of the survey under the 7th Raspberry Film Festival, the Korean version of the Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, in the US, which selects the worst films and actors.
Sports Kyunghyang held a survey among 55 film journalists in South Korea covering commercial films released from December 2022 to Nov. 30 this year.
Each participant cast three votes in each category: worst film, worst acting and worst manners covering actors, directors and film officials.
Here are the Korean celebrities chosen in the survey as having the worst manners in 2023:
(Clockwise from top left) Hwang Jung-min, Jung Tae-won, Lee Dong-hwi, Song Joong-ki and Park Seo-jun (Instagram, screenshot from SR Times video on YouTube)
First place - actor Hwang Jung-min (18 votes)
Korean actor Hwang Jung-min, whose movies are blockbusters, ranked first with 18 votes for the category of celebrities with the worst manners.
According to the report by Sports Kyunghyang, Hwang Jung-min was chosen for not granting media interviews.
Hwang Jung-min (Instagram)
His last interview was in 2018 for the film “Spy Gone North” and since then, he has not granted interviews despite starring in films such as “12.12: The Day,” “Deliver Us From Evil” and “The Point Men.”
The 18 reporters who voted for him as having the worst manners commented, “"Hwang Jung-min didn't appear in this year's interview," "He's the main actor, but he has passed an interview for the fifth year since ‘Spy Gone North.’ It's sad," and "He keeps passing interviews. Is it a media phobia? He doesn't have any sense of responsibility. He's the main actor. He's passing interviews to other colleagues."
He was also criticized for his standards of promoting on YouTube but not interviews.
Second place - “Marrying the Mafia: Returns” director Jung Tae-won (14 votes)
“Marrying the Mafia: Returns” has been voted as the No. 1 worst Korean movie in 2023 and it was directed by Jung Tae-won, who is voted the No. 2 celebrity with the worst manners this year.
Jung Tae-won (Screenshot from SR Times video on YouTube)
Jung Tae-won, the CEO of Taewon Entertainment, got 14 votes to place second.
The report stated that during the promotional interview for “Marrying the Mafia: Returns,” Jung Tae-won surprised the public by saying that he “felt like I had been shot” due to the media’s disastrous reviews, and confessed that he had originally asked not to hold a press screening because he felt he would receive such reviews.
“Even half a year later, I still don’t understand why they say the movie that got shot was because of the reviews of reporters,” and “The proud appearance of being late [to the promotional interview] is more impressive than the movie” were some of the comments of the voters.
Third place - actors Lee Dong-hwi and Song Joong-ki (12 votes)
Actors Lee Dong-hwi and Song Joong-ki tied for third place in the worst manners category with 12 votes each.
According to the report, during an interview to promote the film “Maybe We’ve Broken Up” in February, Lee Dong-hwi did not answer any questions about his long-time girlfriend Jeong Ho-yeon and kept his mouth shut, creating a chilly atmosphere.
Lee Dong-hwi (Instagram)
Song Joong-ki (Instagram)
It added that in addition, after telling a sensitive story about a colleague, he asked the media not to make it into an article, but later on a radio broadcast, he himself mentioned it again and showed incomprehensible behavior.
The voters commented, “If you’re not going to answer the questions, don’t do the interview,” and “If you want to keep your mouth shut, don’t give an interview.”
During an interview for his film “Hopeless,” Song Joong-ki was cited for saying a journalist wrote a “novel” [rumors] about his wife, Katy Louise Saunders.”
“Don't just pretend to be nice in front of the camera, but first have basic character" was one of the comments by the reporters who voted for him.
Sports Kyunghyang published the “worst manners” article on Dec. 25 and it included actor Lee Sun-kyun who passed away on Dec. 27.
Actors Park Seo-jun and Lee Sun-kyun tied for sixth place with seven votes each.
Park Seo-jun (Instagram)