Hong Jin Kyung defends Jo Se Ho amid his hiatus over gang affiliation rumors "He chose to stay quiet"

Entertainer Hong Jin Kyung has stepped forward to defend her close friend Jo Se Ho, who recently halted all broadcast activities after becoming embroiled in groundless rumors.

On June 18, a new video titled "Hong Jin Kyung opens up about her current feelings to her 30-year close friend (+ Jung Sun Hee)" was uploaded to her popular YouTube channel ‘Genius Hong Jin Kyung’.

During the episode, Hong Jin Kyung met up with comedian Jung Sun Hee and expressed her long-standing heartbreak over how the public treats celebrities during crises. Reflecting on Jung Sun Hee's past personal tragedies, Hong Jin Kyung noted, "You went through such immense pain, yet strangely, people chose to attack you. It wasn't anything you deserved to be criticized for. Your life suddenly collapsed, and on top of that, you were hit with random malice."

The conversation naturally shifted to comedian Jo Se Ho, who recently went on an indefinite hiatus after rumors surfaced alleging his connection to organized crime circles.

Defending his character, Hong Jin Kyung explained, "Se Ho is simply someone who loves people, and he genuinely doesn't know how to say no. If it were any of us, we wouldn't go out if people we barely knew invited us for a drink. But Se Ho loves being around people, so he comfortably calls them 'hyung-nim' (big brother). If someone asks for a photo, he gladly takes one, and that's how he naturally becomes friendly with people. He has absolutely no idea what those individuals actually do behind the scenes."

She went on to reveal how Jo Se Ho handled the intense public pressure to release a statement. "I told him, 'You need to explain yourself and speak up,' but he refused, saying he absolutely wouldn't do it. He told me he believed people would eventually understand the truth on their own. Watching how he carried himself through this ordeal, I felt he handled it with extreme elegance."

Hong Jin Kyung added, "Do you think he wasn't feeling deeply wronged? Yet, he chose to just stay completely still. Watching someone stay quiet and wait for the muddy water to settle is not an easy thing to do. I learned a lot from him."

Hearing this, Jung Sun Hee deeply resonated with the sentiment, adding, "Staying completely still is actually the hardest thing in the world. That silence is the most fierce battle of all. It’s an intense internal war against your own urge to strike back and fight."