Uproar after Korean professor criticises Goo Hara and trivialises the pain caused by secret sex videos
- Joo Chul-hwan implied that secretly filmed sex videos were not damaging and that Goo Hara should have been stronger
- Goo, who was found dead last month, was the victim of malicious online comments and a sex tape blackmail threat
By Bahk Eun-ji
A former television director turned university professor has come under fire for criticising deceased K-pop star Goo Hara and implying the suffering caused by secretly recorded sex videos is trivial.
“When you don’t have a strong mentality, you’ll become Goo Hara,” Joo said in the recording. “People swear [at you] because they feel inferior [to you]. Why kill yourself because of such people? You have to have a strong mind.”
He then mentioned the singer’s ex-boyfriend, Choi Jong-bum, who was the target of a lawsuit filed by Goo in 2018 for allegedly threatening to release a video clip of the couple having sex.
Saying Goo should have dealt with the case more audaciously, the professor said that even if others watched the video, she should have said: “What do you think about my body?”
Ajou University’s female student group released the recording of Joo’s lecture and issued a statement denouncing him.
The student group also requested mandatory sex education for all school faculty and staff to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. University officials said they were investigating the incident.
