Staff Reporter
An up-and-coming actress in her mid-20s is still reeling from a nightmarish experience she had a couple of years ago.
"I was with the boss of my agency that evening," she said requesting anonymity. "We went shopping together at brand-name shops. His behavior was unusual as he provided lavish hospitality, going on a spending spree in buying me pricy clothes and other accessories. Afterwards, he escorted me to his luxurious car."
According to the actress, the man drove toward the area where she lived. She thought he would drive her home. But he pulled over near a hotel and propositioned her.
"He told me that how much I know about men would decide how famous I would be," she said.
She terminated her contract with the agency but this just highlights the lack of a fundamental solution to prevent future incidents from occurring, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said Tuesday in a 294-page report on the rampant rate of such propositioning of actresses and actress-hopefuls by those who can influence their career development in the domestic entertainment industry.
The report, jointly conducted by the state human rights agency and the Korean Women's Development Institute, interviewed 111 actresses and 240 actress-hopefuls between September and December of last year.
The findings were shocking.
More than 60 percent of the interviewees received at least one proposal to have sexual intercourse from influential figures of TV stations or other "big shots" from all walks of society, the report said.
Nearly three out of ten said they fell prey to acts of sexual molestation such as groping of their breasts, butts or legs. Around 7 percent of them were raped, it added.
Fifty-five percent of the interviewed actresses said they received at least one offer of "sponsorship" - a secret contract between a rich man and his favorite actress in which the actress receives financial support during a certain period of time in exchange for having sexual relations with him on a regular basis.
"I got such an offer at the initial stage of my career," said an actress in her mid 40s in the report. "He told me if I accepted, he would support me unlimitedly. But I rejected him."
Among those who made such offers were wealthy businessmen, TV and movie directors, and politicians, the NHRC said.
Publication of the report was motivated by the death of actress Jang Ja-yeon in March of last year. The 26-year-old actress, whose popularity was on the increase after starring in a hit contemporary drama, committed suicide at her home, leaving behind a note describing her hard time enduring forced "sponsorship" by her agency owner. The note, made public by TV news reports, created a great stir among the entertainment industry and caused society to question how prevalent such nasty practices were in the winner-take-all industry.
At that time, some corporate figures and media moguls were suspected of having sex with the late actress, but the police investigation ended up finding "little evidence of their involvement."
"This report will raise public awareness of how rampant such a practice is in the industry. We will come up with countermeasures based on the report," said a spokesman for the human rights agency.
여성 연기자 성접대 요구 받아
20대 중반의 떠오르는 한 여배우는 몇 년 전 자신이 당한 끔찍한 일에 대해 아직도 고통스러워 하고 있다.
익명을 요구한 그녀는 "그 날밤 소속사 사장님과 같이 있었어요. 사장님과 저는 같이 명품관에 쇼핑을 갔어요. 저한테 비싼 옷과 악세서리를 사주며 호의를 배푸는게 이상하긴 했어요. 그리고 저를 고급차에 태웠어요."라고 말했다.
여배우 증언에 의하면 여배우가 사는 집으로 가는 길이 였으나 사장은 인근 호텔에 차를 세워 제의를 했다. 여배우는 "사장님은 제가 얼마나 남자에 대해 아는지가 얼마나 유명해 질지 결정할 것이다" 고 말했다. 그녀는 바로 계약을 파기하고 그 소속사를 나왔다.
국가인권위원회는 111명의 여배우들과 240명의 여배우 희망자들을 인터뷰한 결과 60프로 이상이 적어도 한번 이상의 성대접 제의를 받았다고 밝혔다.
또한 10명중 3명꼴로 가슴과 엉덩이, 다리등 신체 일부를 만지는 행위등으로 피해를 봤고, 전체의 7퍼센트는 강간을 당했다고 답했다.
이 같은 제의를 하는 사람들은 돈이많은 기업가, 방송과 영화 감독들, 그리고 정치가들이 라고 국가인권위원회는 말했다.
이 같은 일은 작년 3월 장자연씨가 자살하며 유서에 성접대를 했다고 밝히며 관심이 일었다.