Sunwoo, a member of the group The Boyz, who has been explaining the controversy over his character, has finally apologized directly.
On the 14th, Sunwoo opened up through The Boyz's official SNS, saying, "I apologize for the delay in my writing as I was contemplating how to express my honest thoughts and feelings, and whether I was writing without sincerity."
Sunwoo stated, "First of all, I think you must be very tired. I have been constantly reflecting on my words and actions and my mistakes," and added, "The intention of what I wanted to convey was distorted due to my personal thoughts and irrational behavior, and I want to apologize for not being careful with my words and actions, which may have led some to feel that way, even though I had no such thoughts."
He continued, "I want to clarify that this is not just a simple message to get through this situation," and reflected, "Because I am lacking, I was unable to respond maturely from the beginning, and my actions, which were meant to defend against the hurt caused by excessive criticism, ended up hurting many people."
Sunwoo also said, "I don't just want to seek forgiveness or express my grievances; if I appeared that way to someone, I should have first recognized that I could have been that kind of person. And I will prove to you and to myself, even if it takes time, that I am not that kind of person, and that I truly value and cherish relationships and feelings between people."
He added, "This message is my sincere apology to those who criticized my mistakes and immaturity, to those who may have felt uncomfortable and hurt by my actions, and to all the people around me who love me," and expressed, "I hope my feelings are conveyed without any misunderstanding through this message. Once again, I sincerely apologize to everyone who felt discomfort and hurt due to my immature responses. And I am very sorry to the fans who love me, the Deobi."
Recently, Sunwoo dropped his wireless earphones while trying to get into an elevator and shouted, "My earphones." When a security guard immediately ran over to pick up the earphones and handed them to him with both hands, he received them with one hand without saying thank you, leading to a controversy over his character.
After the controversy regarding Sunwoo's character arose, he explained through a fan communication platform, "Everyone was like 'AirPods' and thought, 'What is that?' I watched the video, and it really looked like I just received them rudely without greeting," and added, "I was confused not knowing what had fallen, and when I realized it was my AirPods, I said 'my AirPods' and looked for them, and they were handed to me."
He continued, "I received them without bowing my head and said 'thank you.' I recognized that it could definitely look that way. However, I always greet the cleaning staff and everyone else wherever I go. I will behave well to prevent such unfair stories from coming out."
Just when it seemed the situation was calming down, actress Nana, a former member of After School, left comments like "He needs to be scolded" and "You can tell a lot from one thing," which amplified the controversy. Moreover, Sunwoo also responded, "I was so dumbfounded that I looked that way, and while I was reflecting on it, it’s scary to think that I’m getting this much hate from people who leave malicious comments based on just a few seconds of video."
Ultimately, Sunwoo's agency, One Hundred, also stepped in, stating, "All artists in our company must be protected and managed. The controversy regarding Sunwoo's character is entirely the company's fault, and the artist is also reflecting on aspects that he had not recognized until now. We will do our best to ensure that such mistakes do not happen again based on communication with the artists," and bowed their heads.
The Boyz is an 11-member multinational group that debuted in 2017 and moved to the agency One Hundred, led by singer MC Mong, last December.
[Ji Seung-hoon, Star Today Reporter]
