Hwayoung breaks silence after 12 years as T-ARA bullying scandal resurfaces

Hwayoung broke her silence after 12 years.

On the 10th, Hwayoung said via her SNS, "I'm sorry for worrying you with an uncomfortable story. Yesterday, I saw the representative of my former agency, Kim Kwang Soo, speaking out about the ‘T-ara’ bullying incident through a certain variety show, and I decided to write this although I was quite worried about it", she posted a lengthy statement. She claimed that it was true that she was bullied by the members of T-ara.

Hwayoung wrote "In 2012, as a party to the so-called 'T-ara bullying incident', I caused a lot of social controversy and I blamed myself a lot, good or bad, while watching the break-up of the group T-ara, which was my foundation. I always felt sorry for all the fans who loved T-ara and for the members who broke up with me because of bullying and disagreements."

First, Hwayoung said, "It is true that I was bullied. It is a lie that 'I said I was bullied when I wasn't even bullied during my T-ara days and that I ‘cosplayed as a victim’.’ As a new member of T-ara, I felt strongly about not bothering the existing members and made an effort to get to know them. However, the members assaulted me and made a lot of abusive remarks at the same time. The reason I endured it was because I thought I could get better if I tried harder," she revealed.

She continued "I apologised to the members several times after I injured my ankle. When I couldn't perform on stage in Japan due to a broken leg, I asked the directors if I could perform just one song on stage. I felt sorry for the members who had to work many times harder for me, so I felt I had to sing even one song."
In addition, Hwayoung clarified that it was true that she had her nails done at the hotel, but that T-ARA usually invited a manicurist to the hotel every time they perform in Japan and that she only had her nails taken care of before the performance because they were broken at that time.

Hwayoung said, "At the time of T-ara's contract termination, I had a lot of documents to prove the fact of bullying and I tried to state my position at a press conference, but representative Kim Kwang Soo suggested that if I did not keet quiet without a press conference, he would also terminate my sister's contract who was also a member at the time. I was only 21 years old and thought that was the best thing to do. In the end, I left the group without receiving an apology and kept quiet for 12 years until now. Later, the members of T-ara appeared on various entertainment programmes and falsely claimed that they had never bullied anyone, thus putting the bullying incident to rest for themselves. My parents and I, who were watching the programme, shed tears because we were helpless to do anything about it," she said. "Why did you even mention your real name on TV about a story that happened 12 years ago, and what was your intention in making such a completely distorted statement?"

Prior to this, Kim Kwang Soo, the representative of ‘T-ara’ and Hwayoung's former agency, appeared on the eighth episode of ‘Let's Go Season 3’ on-air on the 9th and referred to the ‘T-ara’ bullying incident, reigniting the incident. Representative Kim Kwang-soo said, "We terminated the contract of sisters Hwayoung and Hyo-young after learning about the disagreement between the members of “T-ara”, and this led to the bullying theory. The parents of the other members came to us and said they wanted to reveal the truth, but we couldn't do it because we thought, ‘What will happen to their lives if we do that?’ The rest of the members were not to blame and it was their fault that ‘T-ara’ was eventually disbanded.

Hwayoung broke her silence at the words of representative Kim Kwang Soo. It remains to be seen what will happen to the rekindled ‘T-ara’ bullying case.