Go Young-wook (고영욱), a former member of the group Roo'Ra (룰라) who was previously imprisoned for the sexual assault and forced indecency of a minor and subsequently banned from the entertainment industry, has recently been making controversial public comments about entertainment figures on social media. His direct naming of several artists has sparked debate. He recently became the focus of attention again due to an old story shared by Girls' Generation (소녀시대) member Taeyeon (태연) on a variety show. Addressing the online speculation, Go Young-wook posted on his personal social media on October 28, not only denying he was the senior Taeyeon spoke of, but also discussing his popularity and dating history in the entertainment industry at the time, emphasizing that the accusations were untrue.
Go Young-wook wrote a lengthy post on social media that day, stating, “I'm just quietly living my life, taking care of my cats' snacks, but I didn't expect landmines everywhere.” He also expressed his dissatisfaction with old variety show clips that have recently resurfaced on online communities.
Recently, an experience Taeyeon shared on a variety show in the past was recirculated by netizens. At the time, she mentioned that an entertainment industry senior had messaged her, offering to buy her ice cream, but later called her rudely while drunk. Although Taeyeon did not reveal the person's identity at the time, as the relevant clip gained renewed attention, some online began to speculate that the man was Go Young-wook.
In response, Go Young-wook denied the claims and explained the circumstances of his actual meeting with Taeyeon. He recalled that he had previously been a regular cast member on the Mnet variety show “Beatles Code” alongside Yoon Jong-shin (윤종신) and Yoo Se-yoon (유세윤), emphasizing, “To get straight to the point, I only met my junior Taeyeon once, and we only had a brief conversation at the time.”
Go Young-wook stated that on that day, Taeyeon was late, causing a delay in the show's recording, which initially displeased him. However, when Taeyeon entered the studio, she recognized him and said something that instantly dissipated his annoyance. He recalled the situation: “Taeyeon was late that day, and the recording was delayed because of it, so I was indeed a bit upset. But when she walked into the studio, she looked at me and said, 'Senior, I'm your fan.' After hearing that, my anger subsided, and I just awkwardly greeted her.”
Regarding being identified by netizens, Go Young-wook expressed his strong displeasure, stating, “No matter what kind of person I am now, innocent people should not be dragged into this with baseless speculation and identification.”
Furthermore, Go Young-wook also addressed experiences mentioned by other female celebrities on variety shows that were related to him, suggesting that there was a discrepancy between what was aired on the show and the actual situation, and that the stories might have been misunderstood.
He explained that variety show writers often encouraged guests during pre-interviews to exaggerate descriptions for the sake of entertainment. He emphasized that he maintained good senior-junior relationships with those juniors privately, and some juniors who mentioned him on shows would even contact him proactively, and they had met happily off-camera.
Go Young-wook further denied ever contacting female juniors in a rude manner, claiming, “I have never, like a thug, unilaterally called and harassed female juniors, especially not late at night.” He also stated that he was actually quite shy in the waiting room in the past, and would politely greet people. During recordings, he would even jokingly suggest following each other on Twitter, thereby emphasizing that the situations described on the show were not consistent with his memory.
During his explanation, Go Young-wook even discussed his popularity and romantic history in the entertainment industry at the time. He stated that his group Roo'Ra was extremely popular in the 1990s, and he was a well-liked member of the group. He said, “I actually don't want to talk about the past anymore, but everyone knows that Roo'Ra was the most popular group in the '90s, and I was a very popular member. My looks weren't bad either, and although saying this might sound annoying, I've always been popular with women. There were many dating rumors at the time, and I also dated several top actresses who liked me.”
Go Young-wook further questioned, “Why would I call Taeyeon, a junior, late at night and do such a thing?” reiterating that the online speculation was not true. He also expressed strong dissatisfaction with anyone linking him to the incident Taeyeon mentioned in the past.
He demanded, “Why would someone dig up old variety show clips, insist that the person Taeyeon mentioned was me, and shamelessly spread these lies to defame me? Do they think I'm a punching bag, so they can just publish false information?” Go Young-wook then criticized netizens who echoed the claims as “pathetic,” stating, “What do they want to do with my precious morning time? They must be living such miserable lives. Tsk tsk.” Strong dissatisfaction was evident in his words.
In fact, Go Young-wook was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in 2013 for the sexual assault of a minor and has served his sentence. After his release, he attempted to return to the entertainment industry but was never able to successfully resume his activities.
Recently, Go Young-wook has frequently used his personal social media to comment on entertainment topics, expressing his views on the words and actions of several artists. He has previously caused controversy by publicly criticizing the behavior of well-known figures.
