Kang Dong-ho of “Produce 101” is being suspected of sexually harassing a female acquaintance when he was a student.

On Thursday, Kang’s name became the most trending word on Korean portal website Naver, after an online user posted claims that Kang touched her inappropriately in 2009 on Jeju Island, where they were both students attending the same extracurricular academy.

(Mnet, Online community)

According to the woman, the incident occurred while they were on a bus that was taking the students back home. “I didn’t know what to do back then, because I was young and our families knew each other,” she said.

When Kang debuted as a member of K-pop group NU’EST, the woman said she became fearful at the sight of him on TV. “But Kang was more known overseas than in Korea and I could live with the memory brushed aside,” she said.

“That changed with ‘Produce 101.’ As a contestant, Kang began to appear even on my social media feed and it hurt me every time I saw his face. … I felt that it wasn’t fair.”

Kang was popular on the survival audition program. He made it to the top 20 based on votes from viewers.

Along with the written account online, there were screenshots of recent messages between the woman and Kang. She had tried to solicit an apology from him after finding out his personal mobile number through her mother who is close to Kang’s mother.

The person alleged to be Kang in the screenshots initially reacted with delight at hearing from the woman. However, he turned a cold shoulder upon her accusation and tried to avoid the topic before becoming unresponsive.

Pledis Entertainment, Kang’s agency, denied the accusation Thursday and pledged to lawfully counter online rumormongers who leave unconfirmed and hateful comments targeting Kang.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)