Two Months Have Passed, Former APRIL Member Hyunjoo Raised Her Voice On The Bullying Case Of Her Group

Hyunjoo (@ hyun.joo_lee)

JAKARTA - For two months, accusations of bullying to K-pop group APRIL have been rolled out. Now, Hyunjoo, a former member raised her voice.

This year, an internet user who claims to be Hyunjoo's younger sibling wrote that the reason she left the group in 2016 was being bullied.

In the post, Hyunjoo's sister said that it was not true that her sister left the group to act. Her sister has a panic disorder and has difficulty in breathing. The younger sister claimed that the agency asked her to write a letter with her hand to make it look as if Hyunjoo wanted to leave.

"After (leaving the group), there were no apologies from the group members, even when they saw my mother at the agency office, they just laughed".

Hyunjoo's classmate at school also wrote a similar post and told about her bullying. Through a separate post, this person wrote that all APRIL members are bullies except Chaekyung and Rachel as the newest members.

Hyunjoo's friend said that Somin was the first APRIL member to bully Hyunjoo. It is known that Somin left APRIL and joined the KARD group - DSP Media's group. Her friend said that APRIL members often made fun of and were sarcastic to Hyunjoo. APRIL's manager who was aware of the incident remained silent because he was dating Chaewon.

The agency responded by writing that Hyunjoo said she wanted to become an actress and wanted to leave after Tinkerbell's promotions. The DSP Media, an agency that oversees APRIL and Hyunjoo has denied all allegations and will take legal action against Hyunjoo's sister and whoever wrote the allegations.

Hyunjoo's letter

After being silent for a while, Hyunjoo wrote her own statement via Instagram. She admits that until now she is still afraid to raise her voice individually.

“The perpetrator's parents continued to send blaming messages to me and my parents. It's true that I hesitated for a long time because I was afraid of how they would make me suffer if I released my own statement".

Hyunjoo explained, the bullying started in 2014 when she was preparing to debut with APRIL. She was 17 years old and was in the same room as the bully for 24 hours.

“Unable to hold it back, I told my parents and my parents tried to talk to the CEO (APRIL Agency). However, I continued to be in the situation, I was blamed".

As a result, during that time, Hyunjoo continued to be bullied and could only call her parents when there was a manager in front of her. Due to one-sided statements from the agency, Hyunjoo is often labeled a traitor for leaving the group to act.

“I also understand that many people have experienced the same incident as me. It seems like the bullying and exclusion that we experienced when we were young continue with us as trauma".

Ending the letter, Hyunjoo said she would try to live happily and encourage those who encourage her. Now, her agency has stopped all of Hyunjoo's activities and has not ended her exclusive contract.

The Agency and APRIL's response

Two APRIL members, Chaewon and Yena wrote separate letters after Hyunjoo released her statement. Yena said there was a member who continued to think of herself as a victim and turned APRIL members into perpetrators.

"Again, I want to tell you there is no bullying, exclusion, acts of violence, and the only truth is that everyone suffers at that time".

Chaewon also stated the same thing. As APRIL's oldest member, Chaewon said there was evidence that Chaewon and Hyunjoo were close since their debut. The agency also stated that APRIL members had difficulty debuting like Hyunjoo. They want to show evidence but they want to go through the investigation process legally.

“All truth and injustice experienced by group members will be demonstrated through legal procedures. Once again we apologize for causing concern to so many people".

Hyunjoo left APRIL in October 2016 and joined the group Uni.T after winning the competition event The Unit. Then, Uni.T ended its activities in 2018.

Now Hyunjoo has starred in various web dramas and dramas such as Creator Campus, Goedam, Touch Me if You Can, and Summer Guys.

While APRIL members, one of them Naeun, left her role in the Korean drama Taxi Driver. The other group members also haven't had activities either as a group or solo.