[12.07.31] CEO Kim Kwangsoo, "Hwayoung brought this upon herself"
CEO Kim Kwangsoo sat down for an interview after the Hwayoung bullying scandal has reached a new level.
A ripple effect of scandals has followed T-ara since member Hwayoung's contract with the agency was terminated. "A back-dancer claimed Jiyeon slapped Hwayoung during practice," an Internet cafe with over 310,000 people has appeared demanding the truth from T-ara.
During this drama, Core Contents Media's CEO Kim Kwangsoo has sat down for an interview at his office. "We've gained serious damage and losses by bullying rumors (Hwayoung and the relationship between her and the other members). Minor conflicts between members is simply expected and human nature. Hwayoung's removal from T-ara is not due to bullying, but because a refusal to appear on a live TV music program on the 27th."
— There's been a lot of material regarding the things done against Hwayoung by the other members, such as force feeding.
"In every relationship that we have as humans, there's conflict bound to take place. After their debut, there's already been some bullying cases that surrounded Eunjung, Soyeon and Boram, but even then, it wasn't anything serious. Hwayoung's problem (now) is just like one of those. Because [Hwayoung] joined the group late, people must have thought that [she was experiencing] bullying; but Areum, [too], has joined the group late and she's not having a hard time. That rice-cake "force-feeding" scene only looked the way it did because of how it was cut."
— There's been stories surfacing that Hwayoung's sweet and courteous as compared to the other members.
"A rumor has spread stating that Hwayoung was slapped on the face during a dance practice and it spread before being confirmed. Through a police investigation, we learned the rumor was created by kids. These are just rumors."
— The comments in the press release saying "jealous younger members" and "small arguments" - what did you mean by these?
"In the other T-ara members' perspective, being the one who joined the latest (Hwayoung) and causing an issue was not something they wanted to see. Hwayoung's personality is tough and somewhat manly. [Therefore], living with the T-ara members was a little difficult for her. So of course, the other T-ara members will also have some problems with that because they're not able to adapt well with her."
— There was a statement said in the press release saying "Staff members complained about Hwayoung."
"Staff members are underpaid and are hurt by everything happening now also. A person who is close to Hwayoung even sent a message out of hate to a T-ara member."
— If there wasn't any bullying going on and Hwayoung's departure was brought upon by herself, do you have any other thoughts or evidence to reveal?
"[What happened] started out as something like a joke amongst young people and it's unfortunate that it was blown out of proportion the way that it did. But if people publish information [with no proper proof] whatsoever, that just causes more trouble to stir. T-ara will continue [to attend to] their schedules as planned."
Hwayoung recently posted an apologize to her fans and Core Contents Media family on Twitter.
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Source: http://news.nate.com.../20120801n02809
Translated by: Nathaniel + Elly @ Diadem
