From T-ara, Girls' Generation, AOA, and April, a Korean news outlet recalled the most controversial conflicts and bullying issue that happened among K-pop girl groups.
In light of the recent bullying controversies in the K-pop scene, the Korean media outlet JoongAng Ilbo highlighted how girl groups are often facing bullying issues and conflicts among co-members throughout the years.
T-ara, Girls' Generation, AOA, and April: Girl Groups Who Made Headlines for Bullying and Conflicts Among Co-Members
The first case that made the public aware of the most famous yet bullying issue was the 2012 controversy over former T-ara's Hwayoung. The issue sparked when netizens speculated that the other five members criticized Hwayoung through a tweet. As soon as the news broke, there are numerous previous videos and performances of T-ara that circulated on social media, using it as alleged "evidences."
T-ara used to be one of the highest-selling girl groups during their heyday, but their popularity suddenly fell. It became worse when Hwayoung withdraw from the group, while T-ara struggled to regain its popularity. Later on, staff who worked with T-ara claimed how Hwayoung gave them a hard time along with T-ara members rather--- a dramatic reversal of the story.
You Can Also Read: 6 Female K-Pop Idols Who Were Allegedly Bullied/Confirmed to be Bullied by Co-Members
Following T-ara, the Girls' Generation also suffered from discord among members. Though their conflict is a different case, it still received massive attention from K-pop fans. It started when former member Jessica started her own fashion line while still working for the group. Everything is going well when Jessica posted on her Weibo that the members called a meeting to ask her to leave the business or leave Girls' Generation without justifiable reasons.
However, SM Entertainment released a different statement saying that Jessica left the agency on her own to focus more on her business, contrary to Jessica's stance that she wants to keep working with SNSD. It's still a huge mystery among K-pop enthusiasts, and there's still a lot of unanswered questions if what really happened among the co-members.
Moving on, the controversy over AOA's bullying last year is the most extreme case.
Kwon Mina, a former member of the girl group, revealed she was bullied for 10 years by her co-members.
Due to this, she tried to take her own life, and the accused perpetrator, Jimin, admitted to her mistake and eventually left the entertainment industry.
While the alleged "bystander" Seolhyun, the best friend of Jimin, is still active in her acting career, it is undoubtedly not easy for the remaining members of AOA (Hyejeong, Seolhyun, and Chanmi) to return to the K-pop scene.
Lastly, the latest bullying controversy this first half of 2021 arose after the sibling of former April Lee Hyunjoo accused the group of bullying their sister.
The issue attracted more controversies, including ex-A-JAX Yoonyoung dating rumor with April Naeun, as well as claims that current members Naeun and Jinsol are actually bullies during their school days.
Naeun, the most popular member of the group, received the most backlash, losing lots of her social media followers and advertisement jobs.
Why Do Girl Groups Often Encounters Bullying Controversies and Conflicts among Co-members?
The "bullying controversy" of girl groups is a familiar issue. Top girl groups also suffered from bullying controversy or conflicts between members, and some collapsed without overcoming it.
Kim Jung Hyun, a pop culture critic, said, "Most of idol groups' fandom is in their teens and 20s, and school violence and bullying problems are more sensitive than anything else, so they are identified with the victims."
"Rather, it leads to more fatal results than deviant behaviors such as drunk driving or drugs," they added.
Moreover, idol critic Park Hee Ah explained the rising numbers of girl groups with conflicts among members.
"We cannot generalize this issue to girl groups. However, boy groups have stronger fandom than girl groups, so their agencies manage it more thoroughly before problems arise."
An agency official also stated, "We are also paying attention to the company, but it is not easy to identify or intervene in emotional problems among the members. However, if this problem arises, it will have a learning effect that will make it difficult for the team as well as their future celebrity activities."
Related Article: [UPDATE] DSP Media Addresses the Bullying Rumors Involving Hyunjoo and APRIL Members
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Written by Eunice Dawson
