Former T-ara member Ryu Hwayoung and her sister Ryu Hyoyoung have personally spoken up following the recent remarks made by the former CEO about past controversy.
On November 9, music producer and MBK Entertainment founder Kim Kwang Soo appeared on MBN’s variety show “Let’s Go” Season 3 and mentioned the past T-ara controversy from over 10 years ago, bringing it back into the spotlight. He stated, “I took the fall while considering Hwayoung and Hyoyoung’s position. Since T-ara did nothing wrong, I pushed ahead with the scheduled activities. I felt sorry for the T-ara members.”
Following the broadcast, Ryu Hwayoung shared a long post on her Instagram as below:
This is former T-ara member Hwayoung.
First, I apologize for causing concern with this uncomfortable topic. After watching yesterday’s broadcast where my former agency’s CEO Kim Kwang Soo spoke about the T-ara bullying incident on a certain entertainment program, I decided to write this difficult message after thinking it over a hundred and even a thousand times.
As the person involved in the so-called “T-ara bullying” incident in 2012, I have caused various social controversies and witnessed the disbandment of my group T-ara, which was my foundation. Regardless of right or wrong, I have blamed myself a lot. I have always felt sorry for all the fans who loved T-ara and the members, even though we parted ways with words like bullying and discord.
For 12 years, I have lived with the scarlet letter of being the person involved in the “T-ara bullying” incident without responding to various groundless rumors. Although it was a noisy separation, I kept silent despite having trauma and feeling unfairness because it was T-ara that made Hwayoung who I am today.
However, after hearing CEO Kim Kwang Soo’s statements on an entertainment show, I couldn’t understand why he would make biased and distorted remarks about an incident from 12 years ago. I felt the need to correct the wrong parts and made the difficult decision to share my truth.
First, the bullying I experienced is true. The claim that I pretended to be a victim, saying I was bullied when I wasn’t, is false. As a new member of T-ara, I was determined not to cause any harm to the existing members and tried hard to integrate with them. However, the existing T-ara members subjected me to physical abuse as well as many words of verbal abuse. The reason I endured was that I believed things would get better if I worked harder.
Second, I apologized to the members several times after injuring my ankle.
When I sprained my ankle and couldn’t perform on the Japanese stage, I even asked the director to let me perform at least one song. I felt sorry for the members who had to work much harder because of me, so I thought I had to sing at least one song.
Third, it is true that I received nail care at the hotel. However, T-ara regularly called for nail care services during our activities in Japan. The nail care I received was in the same context. My nails were broken, and I had them fixed before the stage. To portray this as if I received nail care solely for my satisfaction feels like an unwarranted insult to me.
At the time of my contract termination with T-ara, I had a lot of evidence to prove the bullying and intended to express my position through a press conference. However, CEO Kim Kwang Soo proposed that if I kept silent without a press conference, he would also allow for the contract termination of my sister, who was in the same agency. At just 20 years old, I thought that was the best option. In the end, I left without receiving an apology and have kept silent for 12 years.
After that, the T-ara members appeared on various entertainment shows, stating that they never bullied anyone, thus concluding the bullying incident among themselves with statements that were not true. Watching those broadcasts, my parents and I felt helpless and shed tears.
I sincerely want to ask CEO Kim Kwang Soo. What is your intention in coming on a broadcast 12 years later, mentioning names, and making completely distorted statements?
I am currently without an agency and alone. I know I cannot fight against a CEO who has been influential in the entertainment industry for over 40 years. Nevertheless, I am speaking out because I am confident in revealing the truth of what happened back then.
Ryu Hwayoung’s twin sister Ryu Hyoyoung also took to her Instagram to address the issue.
Hello, this is actress Ryu Hyoyoung.
First and foremost, I deeply apologize for causing concern to many people.I am writing this to address the bullying incident involving my younger sister and the text message incident involving myself.
At that time, we were about 20 years old. My sister and I had left our hometown and come to Seoul. We felt we had no adults around us to rely on, so we were each other’s only support.
In such a situation, I heard something shocking from my sister. She told me that she was being bullied by the T-ara members and that she was having a very hard time and missed me. The result of trying to prevent my sister from being bullied was the text message incident involving me.
I acknowledge that sending those messages was foolish, and I still regret it to this day.
Although I have previously apologized to Areum for the messages I sent, I still feel sorry.However, at the age of 20, there was nothing else I could do. I was terrified that if I did nothing, my sister might make a bad decision. I hope you understand that my actions, though immature and inadequate, were my best attempt to protect my precious family.
The T-ara bullying rumors first emerged in 2012. At that time, T-ara held their first solo concert in Japan called “T-ARA Jewelry Box,” and Ryu Hwayoung, who was injured during rehearsal, was unable to participate in most of the concert. The other members posted messages allegedly targeting Ryu Hwayoung on their social media accounts, fueling the suspicion that the T-ara members were bullying Ryu Hwayoung. As the controversy did not die down, CEO Kim Kwang Soo eventually announced the termination of Ryu Hwayoung’s contract.
A few years later, in 2017, Ryu Hwayoung and her sister Ryu Hyoyoung appeared on the tvN talk show “Taxi” and mentioned the past controversy. Following the broadcast, a former T-ara staff member from the time of the scandal spoke up online, stating, “Hwayoung is playing victim,” and revealed threatening text messages that her sister Ryu Hyoyoung had sent to Areum, T-ara’s newest member at the time, reigniting the controversy.