SBS's Korean drama "Love Scout" had a very favorable first two weeks of broadcasting, with ratings increasing sharply from 5.2% in episode 1 to 11.3% in episode 4.
However, the film's director - Ham Joon Ho is facing controversy, after his past assault case was brought up again.
A disturbing post has emerged online, including a screenshot of a news article about a drunken assault that occurred in March 2020, involving director Ham.
Director Ham Joon Ho has been arrested by police on charges of aggravated assault, causing injury and insult.
At that time, he was accused of throwing a soju bottle and attacking passersby while drunk in Yongsan, Seoul. After being arrested, he even shouted at the police and insulted a female police officer at the station.
As the incident escalated, potentially causing harm to the drama, the production team of “Love Scout” released a statement on January 13.
The production team said, “First of all, we sincerely apologize for causing concern with the unfortunate news regarding director Ham Joon Ho.”
They acknowledged that director Ham had faced charges of assault and intoxication in early 2020. However, they clarified that the charges were dropped after a mutual agreement between both parties.
“He sincerely apologized to all the victims, after receiving forgiveness and reaching an agreement, he has suffered the appropriate legal consequences.
Additionally, a criminal record is mentioned in the (screenshot) post, which is a minor offense from 5 years ago and is unrelated to this incident,” the film production team explained.
They added that after the incident, director Ham Joon Ho was suspended from his position for three years according to the company's procedures, taking time to self-reflect and repent before returning to his role as production director.
The production team of “Love Scout” hopes to receive sympathy from the audience.
“Love Scout” is a romance drama that revolves around the story of Kang Ji Yun (Han Ji Min) - an excellent CEO at work but clumsy at everything else, and Yu Eun Ho (Lee Joon Hyuk) - a handsome, capable secretary and also a single father who is good at taking care of children and doing housework.
The show airs every Friday and Saturday night on SBS and the Netflix online platform.
