Actress Sung Hyun Ah appeared in court again on Dec. 16 and pleaded not guilty to charges of prostitution. The trial was held in private and took only 20 minutes. The actress left quickly after making her plea and the court is expected to make its verdict within a day.
The actress faced her first charges for prostitution at a trial in the summer of 2013. According to Hancinema, the Ansan Branch of Suwon District Prosecutor's Office indicted the actress on those charges in December of 2013. The prosecution claimed that she earned $50,000 for engaging in sexual relations with a businessman on three separate occasions between February and March of 2010.
The 2013 investigation into a celebrity prostitution ring started rumors about which actresses might be involved. At least 30 actresses were rumored to be part of the ring. A few k-drama actresses publicly stated their innocence and some took legal action to stop the rumors from spreading. Most of the actresses rumored to be involved had their named cleared when the prosecution said they could only confirm the activities of one actress.
That actress was Sung Hyun Ah, the second runner up for the title of Miss Korea in 1994. After her guilty verdict in December 2013 the actress was ordered to pay a fine of about $2,000. The actress continued to insist that she was not guilty. She appealed the verdict, winning a second trial and a second chance to plead her innocence.
It's not the first time that Sung Hyun Ah has been the subject of controversy.
She took controversial roles, appearing in films such as "Woman is the Future of Man," "The Scarlet Letter" and "The Customer Is Always Right." She was accused of using the drug ecstasy in 2002 and she also published a book of nude photos of herself.
After her nude film scenes in the film "The Intimate" were used extensively for marketing purposes, she said she would never shoot nude scenes again. The actress has not appeared on the small screen since her role in "Flames of Desire" in 2011.
Sung Hyun Ah married businessman Heo Eun Gyo in 2007. She divorced him in 2010, remarrying three months later. The actress gave birth to a son in 2012. She is reportedly separated from her current husband, who left her shortly after the birth of their child. Their separation was said to leave her in a difficult financial situation.
