SEOUL (AFP): One of South Korea’s top actors has apologized after it was revealed he fathered a child with a woman he is not married to, sparking nationwide scrutiny in a country where births out of wedlock are still seen as taboo.

Jung Woo-sung, an A-lister in South Korea’s competitive film industry since his debut in the 1990s, made headlines this week after his agency confirmed the 51-year-old actor is the biological father of model Moon Ga-bi’s son born in March.

Days earlier, Moon, 35, revealed that she had recently become a mother, without revealing the identity of the child’s father. A local news report claimed that the model had wanted to marry Jung to “provide her child with a family”, but the actor declined.

Although Jung vowed to “fulfill his responsibilities” as a father, his silence on plans to marry Moon sparked intense backlash, with many calling him “irresponsible,” in a society where deep-rooted stigmas against unwed mothers and their children persist .

“I am truly sorry to all those who have shown me love and believed in me for the worry and disappointment I have caused,” Jung said late Friday as he took the stage as a presenter at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.

“I will accept and bear all criticism. As a father, I will fulfill my responsibility to my son to the end.”

Jung has long cultivated a scandal-free image and had served as a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee agency for nearly a decade until July.

Critics this week have compared the child’s situation to that of refugees – highlighting the stigma children of unwed mothers face.

“He has talked so much about (welcoming) refugees, yet he has made his own son a refugee,” said one commentator on a news website.

A lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Party expressed his support for accepting different family structures in South Korean society.

“The reality is that everyone is unique,” said lawmaker Lee So-young, who added that her parents divorced when she was young.

“Surely a society that respects these differences would be a better society, wouldn’t it?”

Only 4.7 percent of South Korean children last year were born out of wedlock, one of the lowest among 38 developed countries where the average is around 40 percent.

South Korea has struggled with the world’s lowest birth rate and falling marriage rate.

Experts say a contributing factor may be the country’s narrow legal definition of what constitutes a family.

They point out that court approvals for the adoption of a child by an unmarried individual are extremely rare, seeking sperm donation is effectively prohibited for unmarried women, and same-sex marriages are not legally recognized. – AFP