Park Sung Hoon's agency releases statement on actor's 'Squid Game' parody post

Park Sung Hoon's agency, BH Entertainment, issued a statement clarifying the actor's recent controversy involving an explicit Squid Game parody.

In case you missed it, the 39-year-old Queen of Tears star drew flak online for posting a now-deleted Instagram story that contains a cover image of an alleged Japanese porn video that looked like a parody of the hit series. 

Although he immediately deleted it, the post reached many of his followers. Sung Hoon then received criticism, especially since the country is holding its seven-day national mourning period following the Jeju Air crash that killed 179 people.

In a new statement, the agency said that as the actor received the image via a direct message, he felt it was "problematic" and needed to be reported to his manager. However, it was uploaded by mistake. 

"Actor Park Sung Hoon said yesterday, 'It was uploaded due to a mistake while checking the DMs,' but we would like to explain in more detail," BH Entertainment said.

The agency further stated, "Park Sung Hoon received it as a direct message, but he felt it was problematic, so he downloaded the photo in question with the intention of sending it to the company manager. He should have saved it, sent it to the manager, and then deleted it right away, but it was uploaded by mistake."

According to BH Entertainment's representative, Sung Hoon felt the need to report such a message to his manager as "he thought it would be a problem that such strange things were floating around about his work."

His agency also previously explained the incident, saying that Sung Hoon "accidentally posted the image, which he received in a direct message, by mistakenly pressing the wrong button." 

The previous statement also said that Sung-hoon is "deeply sorry for making such a mistake in these circumstances and promises to be especially careful to ensure it doesn't happen again." 

Sung Hoon played a transgender character named Hyun-Ju, or Player 120, in the series. His character is a former special forces soldier and transgender woman who joins the deadly game because she's short on money for her gender-affirming surgery.

Before this, he appeared in various projects, including Roots of the Throne, Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, The Glory, and Queen of Tears, among others.