A comment left during Park Eun Bin’s live broadcast has sparked unexpected controversy after it was revealed to have come from a professional baseball player.
On February 4, Park Eun Bin went live on her personal account to chat with fans. During the broadcast, a comment appeared asking her to “speak like Woo Young Woo.” The comment was later found to have been posted from the official account of Kiwoom Heroes baseball player Lee Joo Hyung.
Park Eun-bin rose to global fame for her role as Woo Young-woo, a rookie lawyer with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in the ENA drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo.
Woo Young Woo’s manner of speaking—often direct, literal, and punctuated by her unique way of processing information—became an iconic part of the character. A famous example is her palindrome-based introduction: “My name is Woo Young Woo, whether it is read straight or flipped. Kayak, deed, rotator, noon, racecar, Woo Young Woo.”
Although she did not react to the comment during the live broadcast, a screenshot of the message later circulated online and quickly drew criticism.
Many netizens said the request from the 25-year-old athlete was inappropriate. They pointed out that Park Eun Bin has repeatedly been careful about recreating Woo Young Woo’s way of speaking. In a past interview, she has stated she feels it is wrong to imitate the behavior of real-life autistic individuals and use it “as a tool.”
She explained that she intentionally avoided observing or copying real individuals and asked fans to avoid parodies of the character’s speech or behavior. The 33-year-old actress warned such actions could “hurt others contrary to the intention.”
As criticism spread, the Kiwoom Heroes addressed the situation. The team stated that Lee Joo Hyung “did not intentionally post the comment” and that the player “also recognizes his mistake.”
On the work front, Lee Joo Hyung was drafted by the LG Twins in the second round of the 2020 rookie draft and later moved to the Kiwoom Heroes through a trade in the 2023 season.
Meanwhile, Park Eun Bin is set to appear in Netflix’s superhero drama The WONDERfools, scheduled for release in 2026, and will also star in the tvN drama Spellbound. In addition, Extraordinary Attorney Woo Season 2 has been officially confirmed and has entered the pre-production stage.
