Actor Kim Seon-ho posted a picture on Instagram for the first time in seven months on Saturday, the first post since he got embroiled in controversy late last year for pressuring his ex-girlfriend to have an abortion.

Kim’s previous last post was in October last year promoting his hit television series “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha,” which was coming to an end.

“I’m so sorry for giving you guys a hard time,” Kim wrote in his latest post, with a picture of a sky. “I also thank you so much for the overwhelming amount of birthday wishes.”

May 8 is his birthday, and Kim’s fan club donated 10 million won ($8,000) to the Community Chest of Korea on May 6 under Kim’s name to mark the actor’s birthday.

Kim was under fire for a short period of time when an anonymous accusation posted online by his ex-girlfriend last October argued that Kim claimed that he would lose advertising deals if the couple kept the baby and pressured her to terminate the pregnancy. The post continued on to say that Kim had promised to marry her prior to the abortion, but ended the relationship. Kim was instantly removed from all television shows, commercials and advertisements. But it wasn’t long until the tables were turned, as acquaintances of both Kim and his now-ex-girlfriend started speaking out in support of Kim and provided evidence that Kim was in fact willing to keep the baby and start a family.

Kim, who has been more active as a theater actor, gained recognition after taking a lead role in the hit television drama series “Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha” (2021). He debuted as a theater actor in 2009 with "New Boeing Boeing." His screen debut was in 2017 with KBS drama series "Good Manager."

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]