Musical actor Han Ji-sang directly spoke out about sexual assault allegations that have plagued him since 2020 and the recent controversy over the cancellation of his appointment as an instructor at his alma mater. Recalling memories from six years ago, he sought to correct distorted facts and strongly asserted his innocence by presenting evidence that included judgments from judicial authorities.
On the 13th, Han Ji-sang posted an explanatory video on his YouTube channel. In the video, he reviewed the entire process from his 2017 meeting with woman A to the filing of charges.
Previously, Han Ji-sang was embroiled in sexual assault allegations in 2020 involving a female fan, A. At the time, Han Ji-sang's side said they had mutual feelings and had been in long-term contact, and that there was no assault against the other party's will during that process. They also filed a complaint against A on charges of attempted extortion and attempted coercion, but the prosecution decided not to indict.
Recently, Han Ji-sang was appointed as an instructor in the Department of Acting and Performing Arts at Sungkyunkwan University but was replaced after student protests, bringing the case back to the surface, and Han Ji-sang used the video to offer another explanation.
Han Ji-sang emphasized that his meeting with A was not the relationship of a fan and an actor but a man and woman attracted to each other introduced by an acquaintance. To prove that the situation at the time was never coercive, Han Ji-sang even released recorded conversations with A.
In the recording, A said, "You didn't sexually assault me. It wasn't one-sided. At that moment I felt good. I felt good, and if you were going to try to do something legally with this, you couldn't do anything," acknowledging that the physical contact at the time was mutually consensual.
Han Ji-sang also drew a line, saying, "Honestly, in that atmosphere we expressed mutual attraction and had physical contact. But it wasn't one-sided; it gradually progressed in the process of expressing mutual attraction."
Han Ji-sang claims that after they ended the relationship, A suddenly contacted him in 2019, intimidated him and demanded a large sum in compensation. He said A proposed conditions such as "No. 1: 500 million to 1 billion won" and "No. 2: one year of public dating," which he said were not realistically acceptable.
Regarding why the prosecution did not indict A on charges of attempted extortion, Han Ji-sang explained that it was "a result considering the particularity of a man-woman relationship, such as that it was not a threat sufficient to cause harm," and pointed out that this does not mean his sexual assault. He revealed that the indictment for defamation recently filed against malicious commenters explicitly states, "The victim, Han Ji-sang, did not commit a sex crime nor has he been punished for a sex crime."
Toward the end of the video, Han Ji-sang emphasized his final plea of innocence with sincerity. He again said, "To reiterate, regarding my man-woman relationship and my private life eight years ago, I never committed a crime. And in that private life I never engaged in unethical behavior," asking that people consider the objective judgments of judicial authorities.
[Photo] OSEN DB, video capture
[OSEN]