HyunA faces immense backlash following her new relationship announcement

By: Gelene Peñalosa - 10 months ago

South Korean singer HyunA and former BEAST/Highlight member Yong Jun-hyung announced their relationship on January 18, 2024, with a “lovestagram” post on their personal social media accounts. The photo they have both posted shows the two of them holding hands while walking along the beach.

HyunA later commented on her post saying, “Please look kindly on us,” and also liked a fan’s comment telling the couple to “love prettily.”

On the next day, January 19, 2024, both HyunA and Yong Jun-hyung’s agencies responded to the news—AT AREA (HyunA’s agency) said that they are not at all involved with their artist’s personal life, while BLACK MADE (Yong Junhyung’s) commented that the matter is difficult to confirm.

Following the announcement, HyunA’s fans showed their anger, disappointment, and displeasure towards the female artist on social media. The announcement has also led to the “closure” of some of HyunA’s big fan accounts on X (formerly Twitter).

Yong Jun-hyung had risen to prominence in the South Korean entertainment industry as a member of BEAST, later rebranding as Highlight. He had withdrawn from the group in 2019 after admitting that he had watched an illegal video sent by Jung Joon-young, one of the idols at the center of the Burning Sun Scandal.

The Burning Sun Scandal in 2019 was an entertainment and sex scandal in South Korea that shook the country at the time, due to the number of renowned celebrities (K-Pop idols) and authorities involved.

Yong Jun-hyung’s name had come up during the March 11, 2019 epsiode of SBS’ “8 O’Clock News,” where initial investigations of the scandal stated that he was part of the KakaoTalk chatrooms where illegal molka footage was being shared. His former label AROUND US initially announced that the reports of his participation were false.

Later, the agency clarified that while he was not a part of the chatrooms, Yong had a one-on-one chat with Jung Joon-young in 2016.

However, Yong Jun-hyung later on announced his departure from Highlight 3 days later on March 14, 2019, and explained the situation surrounding him and his one-on-one chat with Jung Joon-young in 2015. (This post on Instagram has since been deleted or archived).

In his letter, Yong stated that he had admitted to having received an illegally filmed video from Jung Joon-young and had participated in inappropriate conversations. “All of these actions were very immoral, and I was foolish. I treated it as not a big deal without thinking that it is a crime and illegal act, and it is also my fault for not firmly restraining [Jung Joon-young],” said Yong Jun-hyung.

He later added, “…although I knew of what was happening dring that time, I thought of it as not a big deal and acted at ease. I was a silent bystander about this severe issue where more victims may have arisen due to my actions.”

At the time, the police had only considered Yong Jun-hyung as a witness in the Burning Sun Scandal.

HyunA’s fans, other K-Pop fans, and some of the public expressed their dissatisfaction over HyunA and Yong Jun-hyung’s relationship announcement. The reaction was overwhelmingly negative, to the point that HyunA’s long-time big fanbases on social media had announced their “closure,” owing to the fact that they could not support her for her relationship with someone who was involved in the Burning Sun Scandal.

https://twitter.com/ahquablue/status/1748012677526437995?s=20

https://twitter.com/chrryhnji/status/1748096129512951949?s=20

https://twitter.com/hyunathinker/status/1748130029295317428?s=20

https://twitter.com/hyunathinker/status/1748146171913130023?s=20

xhttps://twitter.com/jhadderstweets/status/1748180720751894636?s=20

Others have also pointed out how one of her close friends, the late Goo Hara, had reached out to reporter Kang Kyung-yoon to help in the investigation of Jung Joon-young’s chatroom case. Goo Hara was also a victim of molka, after her ex-boyfriend Choi Jung-bum had filmed her without her consent.

It is extremely disappointing in the eyes of fans to see someone they’ve idolized for the longest time being a role model for women out there…just for them to turn out to be the exact opposite of it.

For many fans, HyunA was one of the very few female idols to publicly send a message of women empowerment, which led to her huge fanbase. Now that she had revealed her relationship with a man complicit in the crimes of men involved in one of the biggest scandals in South Korea, well, it just goes to show how we really do not know our idols behind the camera.

Shame that it had to come to this, HyunA. We were all rooting for you, honestly.

 

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