Veteran actress Yoon Mi-ra recalls 'sponsor' offers in Korean entertainment

Veteran actress Yoon Mi-ra has opened up about what she says were once widespread “sponsor” offers in Korea’s entertainment industry, recalling that she repeatedly received proposals from men offering financial support — and that two men once even showed up outside her home. Yoon shared the stories in a video uploaded Thursday to her YouTube channel, titled “I went out for sashimi and ended up falling for someone.” In Korea, the term “sponsor” has sometimes been used in the entertainment industry to describe arrangements in which wealthy or influential individuals provide money, expensive gifts or other support to celebrities in exchange for an intimate relationship. Yoon recalled receiving such an offer at a time when mobile phones were not yet common and families relied on landlines at home. “Back then, there were no cellphones, and we had a white telephone at home,” Yoon said. “One day, my mother answered the phone, and someone said there was a person who wanted to ‘support’ me. My mother said, ‘Is my daughter a gisaeng?’ and hung up.” A gisaeng was a pr