Ko Young-wook denies rumor linking him to Taeyeon, cites past relationships with top actresses

Ko Young-wook, a former member of the group Rula, has rebuffed online rumors identifying him as the sunbae who allegedly contacted Girls' Generation member Taeyeon in the early hours of the morning, calling the claims false.

On Wednesday, Ko wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account that he had spoken directly with Taeyeon only once. He said that during his time as a regular on Mnet's "Beatles Code," Taeyeon had arrived late to a recording session, leaving him slightly irritated — but that when she walked into the studio and spotted him, she said, "I'm a fan of yours, sunbae," and his annoyance melted away. "I merely greeted her awkwardly — that was all," he said.

Ko then said he had never called a female junior colleague in a rude or disrespectful manner, let alone in the middle of the night. "I'm naturally shy, so when I run into female juniors in waiting rooms or similar places, I just greet them politely," he said.

Ko also brought up his past romantic life. "I know this may be hard to accept, but women have always been drawn to me, and I have dated some of the top actresses in South Korea at the time — mutually," he said. "Why on earth would I need to call Taeyeon in the middle of the night and do something like that?"

Ko expressed frustration at those spreading the rumor. "I'm living a life buried under all kinds of false accusations," he said, questioning what purpose anyone could have in taking an old entertainment clip, concluding that he was the person Taeyeon had mentioned, and openly posting such false claims to defame him.

"Do they think it's acceptable to post false information about me so carelessly just because I seem like an easy target?" he said.

Ko made his debut in 1994 as a member of Rula. In 2013, the Supreme Court handed down a final sentence of two years and six months in prison on charges of sexually assaulting and forcibly molesting minors. He was also ordered to have his personal information disclosed for five years and to wear an electronic monitoring anklet for three years.