| Lee Yi-kyung (Instagram) |
The person who sparked rumors online about alleged sexual misconduct by South Korean actor Lee Yi-kyung admitted Wednesday that the purported images of illicit text messages from Lee were fabricated.
The individual, who claimed to be a German national, posted on X that the images posted earlier on a separate blog platform were initially uploaded "for fun," and that they now feel guilty about the situation. "I never thought the post would garner such attention. But as I wrote (the post) and used AI images, I think I gradually came to believe they were real," the person wrote. All content on both accounts has since been deleted.
On Monday, the person claimed in an anonymous online blog post to have had a conversation with Lee, saying the 36-year-old actor made unwanted sexual advances and even requested explicit photos. The post, titled "Exposing the real Lee Yi-kyung," included what the author claimed were screen captures of the conversation supposedly held via messaging applications.
Lee's agency, Sangyoung ENT, released a statement around 5:43 p.m. the same day, vowing to take legal action against what it said were malicious rumors. Multiple internet users also suggested that the images were fake, pointing to details like the conversation appearing to have taken place on both Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy devices.
The author deleted the original post later in the day and wrote on the blog that they were not seeking money, as some had suggested. However, the individual reiterated the claim that the messages were real.
But early Wednesday, the person admitted that the whole thing had been a prank. It is unclear to what extent the blogger's claims about their identity were true -- such as being German. All the posts were written in Korean.
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