Poster designer Park Si-young, well known for the hit film "The King's Warden," has announced a temporary halt to his public activities.
On October 14, Park stated on social media, "I have decided to stop doing YouTube and interviews for the time being."
Sharing his thoughts, he explained, "I feel like I've said this many times, but freedom is the most important value in my life. I am losing it. Previously, I felt free, but now, rather than feeling like I'm having a chat, it feels like I'm giving a report."
He also confessed that receiving pleas for help from countless people through social media messages—such as "I am in hell right now" and "Please save me"—took a heavy toll on him.
"I can ignore malicious comments, but I can't ignore concrete pain," he said. "If I ignore it, my sense of humanity gets hurt, and if I listen to it, my own vulnerability causes me pain."
He also opened up honestly about how things changed and the sense of duty he developed after publicly coming out on social media. CEO Park Si-young explained, "An abrupt, bizarre sense of duty came over me: a sense of duty as an adult, a sense of duty as a successful minority, a sense of duty as a senior in an industry that ranks first among jobs likely to disappear in the AI craze, and a sense of duty as someone who has stayed sane among all these damned lunatics."
He continued, "A sense of duty eats away at one's intellect and chains one's own freedom. It is not other people that are the problem; rather, this illusion of righteousness that I created is self-proliferating within me and torturing me. I don't really know the answer, but I will never sacrifice the freedom in my heart for the sake of others."
When news articles were published within a few hours bearing headlines such as "Designer Park Si-young Announces Hiatus," he posted again on social media, reacting, "Wait, how can I halt activities when I was never active in the first place?" He added, "Six hours have passed, can I resume activities now?" alongside a smiling selfie.
It was his way of expressing a bit of embarrassment after his comment about stepping away from future YouTube and interview appearances was sensationalized by media outlets with the grandiose term "hiatus."
CEO Park Si-young is a leading poster designer in the Korean film industry. Leading the design studio Bitnaneun, he has crafted posters for box office sensations including "The Face Reader," "The Wailing," "Mother," and the "Veteran" series. Recently, his poster for the 16-million-viewer blockbuster "The King's Warden" also garnered immense love.
Having revealed on social media this year that he has been in a relationship with a same-sex partner for 15 years, CEO Park Si-young had previously drawn widespread interest after appearing on YouTube and other platforms to share his views on love and personal values.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)