Yoo Soo-young, also known as Shoo, apologizes for gambling

Yoo Soo-young, also known as Shoo of disbanded girl group S.E.S, posted a lengthy handwritten letter on her Instagram on Wednesday, apologizing for gambling. In 2018, Yoo was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for ..

In this picture taken on Feb. 7, 2019, Yoo Soo-young (also known as Shoo of disbanded girl group S.E.S.) walks into the Seoul Eastern District Court to attend a court hearing on her gambling charges. [YONHAP]

Yoo Soo-young, also known as Shoo of disbanded girl group S.E.S, posted a lengthy handwritten letter on her Instagram on Wednesday, apologizing for gambling.

In 2018, Yoo was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for gambling overseas 26 times between August 2016 and May 2018. She was also indicted for fraud but found not guilty.

“It took me such a long time to write this letter of apology as I was too afraid to come forward,” she wrote. “The reason why I am writing this is as a means to sincerely apologize after causing such controversy and realizing I could not do that if I keep on hiding in the dark.”

Yoo said that she was talked into gambling by an acquaintance and lost control, which led her to borrowing a large sum of money from people around her including a person surnamed Park, who filed a civil lawsuit against Shoo in 2018, claiming she had not paid the money back.

In 2020, the Seoul Central District Court ruled the Yoo must repay Park 346 million won ($280,000) plus interest.

The total amount of money she gambled reached 790 million won.

“I tried hard to pay back the dept. by working at a side dish store, selling clothes at the Dongdaemun Market and also waitressing at different restaurants,” she added.

Although Yoo did not mention whether she’s paid off all the debt, many are speculating that she has and that the post is coming ahead of her return to the entertainment industry.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]