The Shocking Story of A Popular Korean Actress Who Was Once Blacklisted By A Former Korean President Administration, Kim Gyu Ri Shares Her Story
Actress Kim Gyu Ri has shared her thoughts following the Supreme Court’s final ruling in the Lee Myung Bak administration’s “Blacklist” damages case.
Recently, Kim posted a lengthy message on social media, writing, “The ruling has finally been confirmed.”
Recently, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) issued an official apology titled “We Apologize to the Victims of the Cultural Blacklist and the Public,” after the Seoul High Court ordered the state, former President Lee Myung Bak, and former NIS Director Won Sei Hoon to jointly pay 5 million won [$3,402] each in compensation to the victims. The NIS announced it would not appeal the ruling, making the decision final.
During the Lee Myung Bak administration, Won Sei Hoon reportedly formed a “Left-Wing Celebrities Response Task Force,” which targeted and blacklisted artists and public figures critical of the government.
As one of the blacklisted artists, Kim wrote, “I’ve suffered for years because of this. I just want the pain to stop. The trauma is still severe—just hearing the word ‘blacklist’ makes me panic.”
She went on to recall, “At one point, someone warned me that an NIS office had been set up near my neighborhood, telling me to be careful. My lawyer at the time, now-Assemblyman Kim Yong Min, asked me if anything strange had happened while my house was empty—apparently, the NIS had broken into other people’s homes during that time. I used to shred every document before throwing it away, so nothing happened to me, but I later learned that some neighbors were fined because of ‘issues’ with their trash bags. They must’ve gone through people’s garbage. There were even days when strange men loitered outside my home for hours.”
Kim continued, “After starring in Portrait of a Beauty, I attended an awards show, and when I appeared on screen, I was told someone immediately called to complain. On the same day I was supposed to sign a new project, I suddenly got a call saying the deal was canceled. When the news of the blacklist broke, I posted my feelings briefly on social media—and the next day, I got a death threat saying, ‘If you don’t stay quiet, you’ll die.’ I also suffered from phone tapping and surveillance.”
She added, “They said they apologized, but to whom? It feels like they just said it to the air for the headlines. The scars remain—it’s all just hollow. Still, I’m relieved they’ve dropped the appeal.”
Kim expressed her gratitude, writing, “To my legal team and the senior and fellow artists who endured this fight since the lawsuit began in 2017—thank you and well done. You’ve all worked so hard.”
Source: (A)
