South Korean star Jo Min-ki found dead in Seoul

Jo Min-ki
Jo Min-ki MBCdrama/ YouTube

The South Korean actor called Jo Min-ki was found dead at a private home, located in eastern Seoul, on Friday.

Yonhap and the Korea Times reported that the deceased actor's wife Kim Sun-jin found the body from a storage room which is situated next to a basement parking garage. Later she called the police to investigate the case. The authorities recovered the body at around 4 pm, reports said.

The cause of the actor's death was not known and the police investigation is still in progress. He was in the news recently when several people had accused the late actor of sexual harassment. All the cases were due to be taken up for a probe by police beginning March 12.

Reports stated that he was accused of misusing the power of his position as a professor at Cheongju University to harass many students. He worked in the institution as an assistant professor of drama since 2010.

Initially, Jo Min-ki denied all the allegations but changed his mind on Feb 27 and apologised in a statement to the victims, about eight of them. The statement said that it was his fault and he was the one to blame for the pain of each victim.

"I am deeply sorry to all the victims for the pain I've caused, and from here on out, I will not avoid the social and legal consequences of my mistakes," the statement said.

While accepting the crime, the father of two, mentioned, 'I showed a disgraceful side of myself these past few days because I was suddenly overburdened (by the allegations), and I apologise again for that."

In addition to that Jo Min-ki said he will spend rest of his life "reflecting on my wrongdoings. I will pay my debt by committing to serve, and I bow my head in apology once again."

This incident forced him to resign from his post, as well as to cancel his engagements with upcoming drama named "Children of a Lesser God."

Jo Min-ki was mainly a silver screen star but he appeared in many regional films such as Scent Of A Man, Death Song, The Cut, A Piano on the Sea and First Love. He was also appreciated for his performance in TV series Love And Ambition, Flames Of Desire, Queen Seondeok and East Of Eden.