Lee Jong Hyun's Agency Releases Statement Regarding Controversial Chats With Jung Joon Young

On March 15, Lee Jong Hyun’s agency FNC Entertainment released an official statement regarding the recent report from SBS about conversations that he had with Jung Joon Young in the past.

The statement reads as follows:

On [March] 12, we released an official statement regarding our agency celebrity Lee Jong Hyun saying, “His relationship with the controversial celebrities is only as an acquaintance who was in contact with them, and he has no relation to this incident.”

Before releasing this statement, Lee Jong Hyun, who is currently serving in the military, cooperated with the request for questioning by the police who visited his unit on the afternoon of [March] 12. Of the approximately 20 one-on-one conversations presented by the police at the time, there were no illegal videos that he circulated, inappropriate videos that he received, or problematic conversations, so he relayed his statement [as such].

Lee Jong Hyun left the chatroom himself a long time ago, and it was difficult to confirm the exact facts regarding KakaoTalk conversations from four to five years ago, so the agency was only able to release a statement based on his claims relying on his memory of the past. We had no intentions of hiding the truth or covering up wrongdoings.

After the report by SBS on [March] 14, we got in contact with Lee Jong Hyun and confirmed the truth. He is reflecting and is [aware that] he deserves criticism as he watched the videos via KakaoTalk, had inappropriate sexual conversations, and inappropriate conversations degrading women as reported. He would not have been an idle bystander if he had proper sexual understanding, and he is regretful about this. He expresses his deep apologies to those who received pain due to the immoral and inappropriate conversations he had without a sense of guilt and also to everyone who has been disappointed.

Feeling embarrassed and horrible, Lee Jong Hyun accepts the criticism of the public regarding his wrong sexual morality and values and is deeply regretful and criticizing himself. He will be careful about all of his words and actions as a public figure, and he will reflect and accept the consequences of his wrongdoings.