Trot singer Kim Tae-yeon's side expressed strong regret over the incident involving a name confusion at the local festival organized by Jangsu County Office.
On the 16th, Kim Tae-yeon's agency K Tigers Entertainment (hereinafter K Tigers) stated in an official position, “We would like to clarify our stance regarding the local festival organized by Jangsu County Office that has been mentioned in recent reports and online.”
K Tigers explained, “Recently, we received a request for Kim Tae-yeon's appearance from the Jangsu County Office through an officially commissioned agency. Since this was a negotiation through formal channels, we confirmed the appearance, but later found out that a photo of an unrelated artist with the same name was included in the promotional materials (posters) for the event.”
They continued, “However, later on, the Jangsu County Office denied Kim Tae-yeon's appearance after failing to secure another artist. We express our strong regret regarding this matter.”
K Tigers stated, “Kim Tae-yeon has experienced great confusion and hurt from this incident. Therefore, we have decided to prioritize Kim Tae-yeon's mental stability and consider this situation as unrelated to us, opting not to participate in the event.”
They added, “In the future, we will do our best to ensure that artist Kim Tae-yeon can continue her activities in a healthy environment. We sincerely apologize for the confusion caused and urge the organizers to respond more cautiously to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.”
Recently, a poster for the '19th Jangsu Hanwoo and Apple Festival' organized by Jangsu County Office was released on online communities, drawing attention as Girls' Generation's Taeyeon was listed in the lineup. However, her agency SM Entertainment stated, “(Taeyeon) has never been requested for this festival.”
This led to speculation that there was confusion between Girls' Generation's Taeyeon and the trot singer Kim Tae-yeon with the same name. Kim Tae-yeon's side acknowledged, “It is true that we received a request for the festival,” but the Jangsu County Office maintained their position on the 15th that “the request for Girls' Generation's Taeyeon ultimately fell through,” causing further confusion.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
