10+ Korean Celebrities Whose Careers Took Massive Hits After Big Scandals

Some of them never recovered from their scandal.

A scandal can truly break the career of a celebrity, as plenty of Korean celebrities have had their careers damaged greatly due to getting involved in a large scandal. Here are a few Korean celebrities whose careers took massive hits after getting involved in a big scandal.

1. Park Bom (Former member of 2NE1)

In 2010, Park Bom made headlines when she was charged for allegedly trying to smuggle in amphetamine tablets from the United States. While amphetamine is legal in the United States, they are illegal in South Korea.

Even though Park Bom was later cleared of smuggling charges, as she provided medical proof that she needed the medication, netizens still criticized her. This scandal led Park Bom to take a long hiatus and to get a negative image among netizens. However, she’s been able to steadily recover her career over the years.

2. Han Ye Seul

When Han Ye Seul was a cast member on the K-Drama Spy Myung Wol, she had a dispute with the director over the harsh working conditions. Han Ye Seul then decided to not show up for a filming schedule and flew to the United States. The general public criticized Han Ye Seul for her actions, which caused her image to take quite a hit. Han Ye Seul eventually returned to South Korea to conclude the filming for Spy Myung Wol, but she was forced to take a hiatus after the K-Drama concluded due to all the backlash she received from netizens. Over the years, Han Ye Seul has been able to recover her image.

3. Yang Hyun Suk

Yang Hyun Suk was once the head of one of the top entertainment companies in South Korea, but his reputation seemingly got worse over the years. His image started to drop when he would constantly lie about plans for his groups, and how he would seemingly ignore fans. It got even worse when he was accused of multiple crimes such as habitual gambling overseas and illegal nightlife. All of this forced Yang Hyun Suk to step down from YG Entertainment.

4. Kangin (Former member of Super Junior)

In 2009, Kangin collided with a parked taxi when he was driving under the influence. Kangin faced major backlash from netizens and was seemingly forced to cancel all of his activities. While he recovered a lot of his reputation in the following years, he got involved in another DUI in 2016. This caused his reputation to take an even greater hit, as netizens started to believe that he never reflected on his past actions.

5. MC Mong

In 2010, MC Mong was accused of trying to dodge his mandatory military service. It was reported that he had purposefully pulled out several of his teeth in an attempt to get exempt from his military service. While MC Mong tried to clarify that his teeth were pulled out for health reasons, the general public viewed his statements as lies. To this day, MC Mong still faces criticism from netizens and is viewed negatively whenever he makes public appearances.

6. Iron

Rapper Iron was once seemingly on his way to stardom after his successful appearance on Show Me The Money 3, where he was praised for his unique rapping tone. However, his career went spiraling down after he got involved in multiple scandals, such as assaulting his girlfriend.

7. Go Young Wook

In 2013, Go Young Wook was arrested for sexually harassing and assaulting 3 minors on different occasions. He was soon sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison. He eventually got released in 2015, but he was banned from all Korean broadcasting networks, and his image was permanently ruined.

8. The members of T-ara

During their early days, T-ara was considered one of the top girl groups in Korea. However, their image and popularity came spiraling down when it was rumored that member Hwayoung was bullied by her fellow members.

Although the other T-ara members tried to explain the situation, netizens started to turn their backs on them, and T-ara’s image was seemingly ruined.

Throughout the years, many have come out and revealed that this situation was false and that Hwayoung was never bullied.