'East Palace' Nam Joo-hyuk cautiously responded to the school violence controversy saying "I'm not completely aggrieved" and "the facts are now being corrected."
On the morning of the 21st at a cafe on Samcheong-ro in Jongno-gu, Seoul, an interview was held with Nam Joo-hyuk, the lead actor of the Netflix series East Palace.
East Palace depicts the story of Gucheon (played by Nam Joo-hyuk), who has the ability to move between the world of ghosts (⻤) and the human world, and the court lady Saenggang (played by Roh Yoon-seo), who hides a secret, as they respond to the king's (Cho Seung-woo) summons and investigate the curse that haunts the East Palace. It attracted attention even before its release as Nam Joo-hyuk's comeback work after his military discharge.
Nam Joo-hyuk delivered a passionate performance as Gucheon, who had lived distanced from the world but, by the king's order, pursues the curse tied to the East Palace. Gucheon is a character who moves between the world of ghosts and the human world and lives a lonelier life than anyone else. Though he carries inner wounds, he also has a playful and free-spirited temperament. He led the narrative at the center of the drama and exerted a heavy presence.
Nam Joo-hyuk, who completed his military service in September last year, ended his relationship with his former agency Management Soop in December of that year. He then joined the new agency Fable Company. In addition to the comeback work East Palace, he is also scheduled to appear in Code, the new film by Yoo Soo-min, director of Weak Hero.
Before enlisting, Nam Joo-hyuk rose to stardom and enjoyed top popularity through works such as Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo, Bride of the Water God 2017, The Light in Your Eyes, Start - Up, and Twenty Five Twenty One. However, he was also embroiled in controversy when one side made unilateral allegations of school violence.
Earlier, in June 2022, allegations began that Nam Joo-hyuk had committed school violence. At that time a source emerged, but was soon met with rebuttals from Nam Joo-hyuk's classmates.
Related to this, in February 2024 while Nam Joo-hyuk was serving in the military, prosecutors filed a summary indictment against the source who had raised the school violence allegations and others.
According to an SBS report at the time, the Goyang branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office summarily indicted the reporter and the source who reported Nam Joo-hyuk's school violence allegations on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. The prosecution stated that the allegations they raised were found to be false. A summary indictment is filed by prosecutors when they judge that the suspect's acts are more likely to result in a fine than in imprisonment.
That same year, the Goyang district court sentenced A, known as a high school classmate of Nam Joo-hyuk and the source, and B, who published the article, to fines of 7 million won each. A's side reportedly appealed and requested a formal trial.
Nam Joo-hyuk opened by saying, "Regarding that matter, for now the facts are being corrected, so I'm watching closely and quietly going through the process," and added, "It's not easy to speak in detail about that part here."
When asked, "Did you not feel aggrieved by that incident?", he replied, "I didn't feel that way at all. I'm not someone who wants to show off or behave like (I wasn't), so I'm taking ample time and letting it pass."
Nam Joo-hyuk added, "The facts are now being clarified," and said, "As reported, a court ruling was made, and the facts are being corrected."
Meanwhile, East Palace was released on Netflix to more than 190 countries around the world on the 17th.
[Photo] Netflix
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