Go Young-wook, former member of the group Roo'ra. [Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]
Go Young-wook, former member of the group Roo'ra. [Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]

Go Young-wook pushed back against author So Jae-won, who had publicly criticized him.

On Wednesday, Go took to X, formerly known as Twitter, targeting So and saying, "This morning, I woke up and saw an article about a person calling himself author So Jae-won making groundless, malicious remarks about me, and I was so dumbfounded I was speechless for a moment."

He said So wrote "without checking the facts, targeting someone who has no relation to him at all," adding that "this is a matter worth reviewing legally."

Regarding So's reference to his own work, Go said, "Why are you attaching your novel 'Wish' to me?" and "Do you even really know me?" "Wish" is a novel by So inspired by the 2008 Jo Doo-soon case; it was adapted, with So's consent, into the 2013 film "Hope."

Go also listed the measures he completed after his release, saying, "I received three years of probation, and I never once violated the rules on wearing an electronic monitoring device or the curfew barring me from going out between midnight and 6 a.m." He added, "For 10 years, I dutifully went to the police station every year to have my photo taken."

Author So Jae-won. [Photo courtesy of Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]
Author So Jae-won. [Photo courtesy of Herald Pop (now Herald Muse)]

Regarding So's remark that Go "should be living in hiding, and even that would not be enough," Go countered, "My mother's health has deteriorated to the point where she cannot walk for more than 10 minutes, so I have to go grocery shopping for her. If I hide away as you want, will you go grocery shopping for me instead?"

On his own posts, Go explained, "I am just posting my thoughts on X. It may look like I am posting without thinking, but these are things I could not say to people I used to have relationships with, and now I am putting those feelings into words."

Earlier, on Monday, So wrote on social media, "How much longer do we have to watch this shameless man Go Young-wook, who committed sex crimes against a minor, running his mouth?" and "What is he so confident and aggrieved about?"

Go debuted in 1994 as a member of the group Roo'ra. In 2013, the Supreme Court finalized his sentence of two years and six months in prison, along with three years of electronic monitoring and five years of mandatory disclosure of his personal information, on charges of sexually assaulting and indecently assaulting a minor. He completed his sentence and was released, but remains banned from the entertainment industry.


dbsdn1110@heraldcorp.com