Hong Seok-Cheon (홍석천) was born on February 3, 1971. He is a South Korean actor, television personality, restaurateur and member of the Democratic Labor Party. He had caused a huge controversy in Korea when he came out as gay in 2000 and got banned from broadcasts for 3 whole years until SBS took him in again, claiming that he did nothing wrong when backlashed by a group of Korean citizens who appeared in front of the SBS building, protesting out of disagreement. Years later, the man mentioned in an interview about how he'd thought the perspective of the society would change after welcoming a brand new millennium, but in fact, nothing has changed. He now remains as the most prominent openly gay celebrity in Korea.