MBN's 'Let's GO' released an extended preview clip of the upcoming episode featuring Kim Kwang Soo as a guest, where he opened up about T-ara's infamous bullying scandal that once caused a national sensation.
Kim Kwang Soo explained, “At the time, the rumors surrounding T-ara were so outrageous and infuriating that I immediately decided to make a major announcement. This is something I’m revealing for the first time on television—I told Hwayoung and Hyoyoung to bring their contracts, and then I tore them up."
He continued, “I told the two of them, ‘Leave. I’ll release you without any conditions. Go pursue your careers.’ But soon after, rumors about bullying spread across the internet under titles like ‘unloyal’ and it snowballed out of control before I could do anything about it.”
The producer also recalled, “The parents of the T-ara members came to the office and demanded a press conference, saying we should release all the evidence, including the text messages. But then I thought, ‘What will happen to those girls’ (Hwayoung and Hyoyoung) lives if we expose everything?’ I decided to shoulder the burden myself instead.”
The broadcast captioned Kim Kwang Soo's stance: "The victim had turned into the perpetrator. Even though mistakes were made, I was concerned for Hwayoung’s future, as she was still young."
He added, “I thought the T-ara members did nothing wrong, so we continued with their activities. But the public saw it differently, saying, ‘How powerful is Kim Kwang Soo that he can push ahead in the entertainment industry like this?’ From my perspective, we did nothing wrong.”
At the time, Kim Kwang Soo encouraged the members, saying, “I don’t mind taking the blame. If you stop now, you might never recover. I’ll shoulder it all; you just keep moving forward.”
Reflecting on the T-ara incident, the producer admitted, “It was a huge crisis back then, and in some ways, it might still be ongoing.”
When host Hong Hyun Hee asked if he regretted his decision, Kim Kwang Soo responded tearfully, “Actually, the T-ara girls still visit me on my birthday sometimes, and I often end up in tears, feeling guilty. I think, ‘If only I’d held back a little.’ Although people advised me not to release the statement, I did it anyway. I told the girls, ‘I’m sorry. I should’ve held back a bit.’”
T-ara, who debuted in 2009, won over fans with hit songs like “Lies,” “Roly-Poly,” and “Lovey-Dovey.” However, in 2012, rumors surfaced that Hwayoung was being bullied. When Hwayoung struggled on stage during a Japanese concert due to a leg injury, some members shared posts on social media about "differences in willpower." These posts were interpreted as subtle jabs at Hwayoung, fueling the bullying rumors. Videos supposedly exposing the bullying circulated widely, causing the situation to spiral out of control. Later, the agency terminated Hwayoung’s contract, denying the bullying and discord rumors. Nonetheless, the controversy severely damaged T-ara's popularity.
The full episode is scheduled to be released on November 9 through MBN.
Korean netizens commented:
"I think only those involved would really know the details, so I’m not here to criticize."
"But honestly, the biggest mistake was forcing a new member into an already successful group."
"Everyone saw that ‘difference in willpower’ post online. So what’s he saying?"
"And how did T-ara end up being 'cleared of the bullying accusations'? Sure, Hyoyoung made a mistake by texting Ahreum, but I don’t see any new information that would redeem Hwayoung."
"Can you imagine the gravity of it if the same thing happened in a popular girl group today? Think about the whole group attacking one member on social media..."
"It’s funny how nowadays they’re acting like none of the members did anything wrong."
"T-ara members already had a lot of bad rumors around them before Hwayoung’s incident, so that only made it worse."
"They spread it themselves on social media—do they think people forgot just because time passed? They’re desperately trying to clean their image now."
"Kwang Soo exploited T-ara, and yeah, they took way too much hate back then. The focus should be on how excessive the hate was; there’s no reason to hate on Hwayoung—she was just the victim."
"They were all young and sensitive, and they ended up fighting and posting about it on social media. Isn’t this mostly the agency’s fault for pushing them like that?"
"Honestly, T-ara had it rough back then. A new member joins an already established group and acts up—who could tolerate that? Good luck to the older members."
"And those comments about her not being hurt enough to wear a cast are ridiculous. Fans edited photos to remove any swelling and then claimed Hwayoung wasn’t hurt. What’s even the point of that?"
"The perpetrators always have the longest tongues. And this guy’s the CEO acting like this?"
"Hwayoung has a strong personality and wouldn’t back down easily, but the T-ara members did bully her, didn’t they?"
"I feel bad for Hwayoung. I still remember T-ara publicly shaming her on Twitter."
"For a CEO who’s supposed to take responsibility, throwing someone under the bus and stepping back is just incredibly irresponsible and awful."
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