Moon announced the birth of her child via Instagram on Friday without mentioning the father, describing the pregnancy as “unexpected” and saying she was “not at all prepared for the sudden news”.
Two days later, Jung’s agency, Artist Company, released a statement confirming that “the baby Moon discovered on her social media is Jung Woo Sung’s son.”
The statement also noted that Jung and Moon “discussed the best way to raise the child.”
This sparked outrage that quickly spread across the country, prompting a series of opinion pieces in the tabloids, fueling online debate and prompting comments from national politicians.
Online reaction has been largely critical of Jung, whose prolific film career has made him a household name in South Korea.
Many commentators seemed to think the actor had tarnished an otherwise honest and squeaky-clean image, with some expressing disappointment that the former UN High Commissioner for Refugees ambassador “can’t accept his own child”.
“Jung Woo-sung is pretending to be a good guy saying he will fulfill all his duties… A child does not grow up on money alone,” wrote one commenter on Naver News, South Korea’s largest news aggregator website.
“It’s not a problem not to get married after having a child. The fact is that he has pretended to be such an ethical person until now,” wrote another.
Speaking to conservative news outlet JoongAng, an unnamed lawmaker from the right-wing People’s Power Party described Jung’s decision to have a child out of wedlock as “something unthinkable in this country’s social mores.”
“No matter how much times change, Korean traditions and public sentiment must be kept (fair),” the lawmaker said.
A recent social survey conducted by South Korea’s statistics agency found that 37% of people believe it is acceptable to have a child outside of marriage – an increase of almost 15% from 2012.
Of those who said marriage was necessary, more than 72% were over 60, with younger respondents increasingly less likely to hold this view.
