Yi Yun-taek

On February 13, 2018, several women, including former actress Kim Soo-hee and actress Hong Seon-joo, accused Yi Yun-taek of sexual harassment. Yi allegedly forced many women in his theater troupe, for 18 years, to massage his genital area prior to raping them. In addition, Kim Soo-hee stated that in 2005, Yi raped her and got her pregnant, for which she had an abortion. Moreover, actress Hong Seon-joo alleged that Yi forcibly penetrated her private part with sticks and wooden chopsticks, saying it will help her vocalization. As a result, Yi resigned from all his positions in the theater world and formally apologized to the victims.

Yi has been active as a director at the National Theatre, where he directed a musical version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest in 1999. His production of a musical entitled Dreaming at Hwaseong (Hwaseong-eseo ggum ggunda) performed at world cultural heritage sites, is but one of his many continuing theatrical experimentations.

Yi Yun-taek was born July 9, 1952 in South Korea. A poet, dramatist and producer, Yi Yun-taek debuted in 1979 with Jack-O-Lantern (Dokkaebi bul) which appeared in the magazine Contemporary Poetry. As the 1970s ended Yi worked as a reporter for Busan Daily while also focusing on writing and staging plays. In 1986, Yi formed his own theatrical company called Yeonhuidan georipae in Busan and since that time has traveled around the country staging plays.