“She Was Pretty” K-Drama Actress Gets Called Out For Dumping Her “Trash” On Others

Actress Hwang Jung Eum, who is currently on hiatus following embezzlement charges involving company funds, faced unexpected backlash after posting a notice about giving items away for free.

On February 12, Hwang shared a giveaway on her social media. She set up a small area near her house to give away toys that her child had used.

“I’m giving away toys for free. These are toys my child used carefully—if you need them, feel free to take them.”

She announced that the giveaway would take place from February 13 to 15, in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, from 12 to 7pm. The photos showed a large pile of various toys, including cars, robots, and dinosaur figures. The toys, believed to have been used by her two sons, were spread out in large quantities on the floor.

However, netizens reportedly reacted coldly. They were highly critical of her as it costs a lot of money in South Korea to dispose of items. Not only must people purchase specific trash bags to dispose of daily items, larger items must be taken away by bureau workers after payment. Some even took issue with the way she simply put the items in a chunk together without arranging or sorting them. She has since deleted the post.

Last year, Hwang was indicted on charges of embezzling ₩4.30 billion KRW (about $2.99 million USD) from her personal corporation and was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for four years. She admitted to all charges and fully repaid the embezzled amount in two installments in May and June of last year.