Sports Kyunghyang announced on May 20 that Lee Min Jung, former member of "After School" Lee Joo Yeon, T-ARA's Hyomin, retired rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon Jae, and Kim Hee Jung attended and participated in a birthday bash near Itaewon for a well-known top fashion personality.
South Korea has reportedly seen a growth in the number of COVID-19 infections after a person attended a nightclub in Seoul's Itaewon district with the viral infection. The person attended the region night clubs on May 2 and tested positive on May 6.
Meanwhile, the birthday bash took place at a restaurant near Itaewon in the Hannam community on May 9, according to sources. Photographs taken at the party showed that no one inside the enclosed space was wearing a mask.
In addition, an alpaca was also visible at the celebration, expressing concern since alpacas in congested and noisy environments are expected to become stressed.
The public figures released an official statement preceding the news, correcting the scope of their presence at the event and the exact place they attended.
The statement below was issued by Lee Min Jung and her company, ESteem Entertainment.
Lee Min Jung said, "I decided to quickly visit a coffee shop in the Cheongdam community to pass off a gift for a friend. I sincerely apologize for causing distress."
The agency wrote:
"We apologize profusely for causing confusion as a result of COVID-19 several people face a hard enough time when exercising social distancing.
We do mention this, however, since some of the factual information has also been skewed.
Having visited the Cheongdam brunch restaurant, which was the venue for the birthday celebration of the great friend, actress Lee Min Jung immediately left the site after giving her gift, greeting, and snapping a memorial photograph.
The details that indicate that she has been part of a party at Itaewon was published falsely and mistakenly. We would really like to apologize profusely once more for this occurrence, and we will become even more cautious in the future."
Son Yeon Jae made corrections about the situation, too. She stated: "I didn't go to Itaewon on May 9. It was only in the vicinity of Cheongdam that I went to personally thank the old friend I had known from my previous company for their birthday. It is completely unconnected to the place of the party at the subject, which has become a problem."
In addition, the agency Sublime Artist Agency of Hyomin and Kim Hee Jung issued a statement concerning their engagement.
"This is the Sublime Artist Agency.
First, we want to issue an apology for the irresponsible actions of the artists Hyomin and Kim Hee Jung from our company.
On May 9, Hyomin and Kim Hee Jung decided to attend the birthday celebration of a friend that took place in a restaurant in the Cheongdam community.
Even though it is late, the two are able to make sense that they have behaved recklessly irrespective of the purpose, and are showing on their behavior.
Once more, we sincerely apologize for the neglectful handling of our artists."
Mystic Story, Lee Joo Yeon's managing label also released a statement saying:
"Hello, This is Mystic Story.
We are providing a statement about the party involvement press release of Lee Joo Yeon.
Lee Joo Yeon was expected to be present at the birthday bash of an old friend held at a Cheongdam restaurant on May 9. As stated previously, this was not a café in Itaewon.
Lee Joo Yeon reflects on her behavior to sow controversy as everyone practices social distancing and aims to halt COVID-19 dissemination.
The company, as well as the artists, must be careful to prevent a similar scenario coming up in the near future."
