“Lovely Runner” actor Byeon Woo-seok will take firm legal measures against malicious comments, his agency Varo Entertainment said Friday.

"We have decided to take legal action against the malicious and insulting comments directed at Byeon, as we could no longer ignore the issue and must protect the actor’s rights,” Varo Entertainment said in a press statement.


The agency stated the comments are “clear criminal acts and subject to legal action,” and it has filed police reports against theperpetrators.

“We have gathered sufficient evidence of the criminal acts through malicious posts, including malicious slander, defamation, insults, sexual harassment and the spread of false information, as well as comments," the agency said.

The agency reiterated its no leniency rule to ensure that the offenders receive the appropriate punishment.

“Varo Entertainment will continue to monitor and pursue legal action against malicious criminal acts directed at our actor to protect our actors' rights and reputation,” it said.

Byeon, who first debuted as a model in 2010, kicked off his acting career in 2016 with the tvN drama “Dear My Friends” (2016). He took on his first lead role this year as Seon-jae in tvN’s romantic comedy series “Lovely Runner,” which finished in May.

Since the series ended, the actor rose to stardom both in Korea and globally. The actor went on an Asian tour this year to meet his Korean and international fans, including Thailand and Singapore.

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]