Actress Sung Yu-ri, former member of Fin.K.L, resumed her broadcasting activities about four months after her husband's legal imprisonment, but she is still facing a cold wall of public opinion.
Sung Yu-ri returned to the screen on the 30th of last month through GS Home Shopping with a title called 'Sung Yu-ri Edition'. This was her first official activity since her husband Ahn Seong-hyun is serving a prison sentence of 4 years and 6 months after being convicted of fraud and receiving money and valuables.
In fact, Sung Yu-ri's return had already been hinted at earlier at the end of April. At that time, GS Home Shopping released a teaser video reminiscent of Sung Yu-ri through their official social media, suggesting a program launch. With the phrase "Do you think you know who this back view is?" keywords representing Sung Yu-ri like 'original fairy', 'Healing Camp', and 'Thousand Year Love' appeared, and this quickly spread among netizens, confirming that Sung Yu-ri was the star of the comeback.
However, as the backlash grew stronger, GS Home Shopping retracted by deleting the related posts. Nevertheless, Sung Yu-ri appeared on the show as scheduled, reigniting the controversy.
Sung Yu-ri married entrepreneur Ahn Seong-hyun, a former professional golfer, in 2017 and gave birth to twin daughters in 2022. However, Ahn Seong-hyun was sentenced to prison for receiving valuables worth billions of won and luxury watches in exchange for soliciting a cryptocurrency listing from September to November 2021, leading to his legal imprisonment in December of last year.
At that time, Sung Yu-ri indirectly expressed her position through social media, saying, "I pray that the injustices of our family will be revealed," and subsequently halted all broadcasting activities.
However, the public's reaction to her resuming activities four months after her husband's imprisonment is cold. Some fans have shown support, saying, "It's nice to see her resilient," and "Sung Yu-ri is not at fault," while many criticize, "Isn't it a concern for the victims?" and "It seems morally wrong to return without an apology."
In particular, despite the teaser video being deleted amid controversy, there is sharp criticism that continuing her return suggests she does not care about public sentiment. With interest now focused on Sung Yu-ri's future actions, there is a growing call for sincere communication that could diffuse the controversy.
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