1. Hong Seok-cheon was born on February 3,1971 and is a South Korean actor, television personality, restaurateur and member of the dissolved Democratic Labor Party.
13 Facts About Hong Seok-cheon
1. 2.
Hong Seok-cheon caused considerable controversy in his home country when he came out as gay in 2000, and remains the most prominent openly gay celebrity in Korea.
3.
Hong Seok-cheon was born in Cheongyang County in South Chungcheong Province.
4.
Hong Seok-cheon began his entertainment career as a male model, and made his screen debut in 1994 as a reporter for Live TV Information Center.
5.
Hong Seok-cheon faced massive stigma after becoming the country's first openly gay celebrity, and later said he experienced shunning, verbal abuse and discrimination that he rarely stepped out of his social circle.
6.
Hong Seok-cheon then wrote his memoir My Heart Still Throbs for Forgotten Love, in which he recounted his failed romance with a Dutch man named Tony.
7.
Hong Seok-cheon started his first restaurant Our Place in 2002, two years after he came out.
8.
Hong Seok-cheon now owns and runs nine high-end restaurants in Itaewon, home to a large expat community in Seoul.
9.
Hong Seok-cheon's restaurants are all characterized by the prefix "My," namely: My Hong Seok-cheon, My Chi chi*s, My Thai, My Thai China, My X, My Chelsea, My Noodle, and My Suji.
10.
Hong Seok-cheon continued appearing regularly on talk shows, notably Yeo Yoo Man Man, on which he guested with his parents and discussed his life since coming out.
11.
Acting-wise, Hong Seok-cheon starred in the thriller Puzzle and the stage play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
12.
Hong Seok-cheon founded the internet shopping mall Ne2Nom in 2007, and became a professor at Korea National University of Arts.
13.
In 2015, Hong Seok-cheon announced that he plans to run for district head of the Yongsan District Office in the 2018 local elections.