SEVENTEEN's Mingyu Shares Personal Statement On School Bullying Accusations After Pledis Meets With Alleged Victim

Pledis Entertainment has released what it describes as its final statement on the school bullying allegations made against SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu.

In February, several online posts were made accusing Mingyu of school bullying and sexual harassment. Pledis Entertainment initially denied the allegations made in the first of these online posts, but after more posts followed, the agency announced that while some of the specific claims made about Mingyu were completely false, they planned to carefully investigate the facts of the case before stating their final position.

As they proceeded with their investigation, Pledis Entertainment released two additional statements in March to share new information that they had gathered and clarify their position on the incident.

On April 6, Pledis Entertainment shared a new official statement that includes a personal message from Mingyu. The agency also announced that after going on a temporary hiatus due to the allegations, Mingyu will be returning to his scheduled activities.

The agency’s full statement is as follows:

Hello, this is Pledis Entertainment.

We are making our final statement on the matter regarding SEVENTEEN member Mingyu’s school days that was posted online.

First, our agency thoroughly checked the facts of this case without missing anything, and above all else, throughout this process, we approached the matter with the principle of making sure no one experienced any feelings of injustice. Therefore, we communicated directly with the writers of the online posts related to our artist, and when we learned that something was not true or a misunderstanding, we immediately reported those corrections [through the media].

Following our previous statement, we finally got in touch with the individual known as “B” through the writer of the post about the middle school incident, and over a period of time that extended beyond three weeks, we checked the facts of the story. Although there were parts of the incident that each person remembered differently, we made an effort to find points on which everyone agreed.

After personally meeting with the individual for a face-to-face conversation and investigating the truth by exchanging evidence and third-party testimony, we proceeded with discussions while understanding and being respectful of one another’s positions. Our artist [Mingyu] explained that in his middle school days, when his friends made jokes, he laughed along without giving it much thought. Therefore, our artist does not remember the incident described by the individual. However, he conveyed a message to the individual through our agency that even if it was unintentional, he is sorry if he hurt their feelings in any way. The individual also said that they do not wish for our artist to take any further responsibility regarding things that happened in the past.

Both the individual and the artist are hoping that the other does not suffer any additional damage due to this matter. Accordingly, we hope that the individual in question will not be harmed by any unnecessary speculation about this incident.

Finding the writers of the online posts and figuring out the facts of the case by examining the memories of many different people was a task that took a lot of time and hard work. Because it was work that could not be taken lightly, we handled every step of the process as carefully as we could. We apologize for releasing our final statement late because of this.

Mingyu apologizes for having given his fans cause for concern and worry just from the fact that this incident occurred, and he has relayed the following message:

“I apologize to the fans for having given you cause for concern. I did struggle while going through this experience. However, I also ended up learning that my actions could hurt someone, even if I did not mean it or remember it that way. It was also a time during which I reflected on what kind of attitude I should take on in the future. I’m a person who is able to work because of the love of my fans, and I realized once again that because of that, I need to become a more mature person so that I can repay [my fans] with positive energy. In the future, I will be more careful with my actions and work hard so that I can remain by my fans’ side for a long time.”

With this, our agency intends to wrap up this case regarding our artist’s school days. Mingyu will also resume the activities that he temporarily halted, and he will begin to return to carrying out his schedule as planned.

Additionally, our agency would also like to apologize for giving many people cause for concern due to this matter related to our artist.

Thank you.

Source (1)