SEOUL, March 17 — Comedian and popular variety show star Cha Tae-hyun announced he would vacate his various TV spots.

This is after old text conversations resurfaced, that showed he had gambled by placing golf bets.

The chats were from a group chatroom for his fellow castmates on the show 2 Days & 1 Night from castmate Jung Joon-young‘s phone.

Fellow castmate Kim Joon-ho was also shown to have played golf with Cha, making bets on the outcome.

Gambling is an offence in South Korea, with citizens to be prosecuted even if found to have gambled outside the country.

Old text messages recovered from Jung's phone have proven damning evidence for various offences by celebrities, as well as unnamed public figures.