Joo Jin-mo's private messages leaked online, actor steps back from work

In early 2016, private KakaoTalk messages and photos belonging to South Korean actor Joo Jin-mo and several other celebrities were hacked and spread online. KakaoTalk is the country's dominant messaging app, and many public figures use it for everyday personal conversation.

The leak drew intense media attention in South Korea, where entertainers' private lives are closely scrutinised and public image matters greatly to their careers. Joo Jin-mo responded by issuing a public apology over the content that had surfaced.

He later took a break from acting and stayed out of the public eye for a period. The episode became one of the best-known privacy and reputation cases of his career, and it is often mentioned when his personal life is discussed.

It matters now because it forms part of the background to his public image before his later marriage to doctor Min Hye-yeon, and to the news that the couple are expecting their first child.