He expressed how sorry he felt.
TARE he was once plagued by a huge bullying scandal. Through various accusations the group has been accused of bullying Hwayounga member who had joined much later in the group’s career. As time passed, it was revealed that the victims were actually T-ARA and that Hwayoung had victimized herself.
In a recent episode of MBN‘S Let’s gothen CEO of T-ARA Kim Kwang Soo he expressed his opinion on the matter. He claimed to have been a firm supporter of the original T-ARA members. Back then, the public had not yet been made aware of the truth behind the matter, but Kim Kwang Soo prevented the truth from being revealed out of concern for Hwayoung and the other members. He ordered the girls to continue with the activities, leading to them being shunned by the public at events.
At the time I was so stunned by the rumors about T-ARA and was so angry that I decided to make a tentative announcement. This is the first time I’ve talked about this, but I told Hwayoung and Hyoyoung yo to bring their contracts and I tore them up. I told them to leave and that I would release them from their contracts without any conditions. I told them to go and do their thing. Subsequently, rumors that they would be ostracized began to spread online, claiming that they had no one to depend on but each other. They spread incessantly. T-ARA’s parents came to the company. They said they would open a press conference and publish all KakaoTalk conversations and more. But then, I was worried about the lives of T-ARA members, so I suppressed them. It was the case where the victims became the executioners. Even though he was wrong, I was worried about Hwayoung’s future since he was still young. I thought T-ARA hadn’t done anything wrong, so I continued with their TV promotions. But the public saw me as having enough authority in the industry to continue their activities. For the life of me, I didn’t think we were wrong. I told them it was okay for me to have been cursed, but if they stopped here, they would never be able to come back. I would be the one to take on everything. They needed to move forward.
—Kim Kwang Soo
He went on to share that T-ARA members still come to him from time to time on his birthday. While he didn’t admit that he regretted his decision at the time, he did express that he felt sorry for the girls.
You can read more about the incident below.
Areum reveals the truth behind the T-ARA bullying scandal and reveals that staff hurt her far more than her members
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