After confessing she was bullied by former APRIL co-members, Lee Hyun Joo revealed her whereabouts.
Is she doing well after the controversy?
Lee Hyun Joo 2015-2022: Debut in APRIL, Withdrawal, Re-Debut in UNI.T, Disbandment
Lee Hyun Joo, mononymously known as Hyunjoo, entered the entertainment industry as a member of the girl group APRIL in 2015.
After a year, it was announced that she would be on a hiatus due to health issues, which later on led to her withdrawal from the group. DSP Media then cited the reason that Hyunjoo would take a career shift into an actress.
ALSO READ: DSP Media Addresses the Bullying Rumors Involving Hyunjoo and APRIL Members
In 2017, the idol then surprised the K-pop scene when she joined the survival show, "The Unit," aiming to re-debut in a project girl group. She won fifth place and joined the team UNI.T, but it disbanded in 2018 after five months of activities.
She continued to work as an actress diligently after that, until in 2021, her name created noise in the K-pop scene due to a bullying scandal. It was speculated that she was a victim of bullying, exposed by her older brother in an online community, and the said perpetrators were none other than her former co-APRIL members.
After a turmoil of events including filing a lawsuit against each other, APRIL decided to disband in 2022, and the case ended with the case being dropped without charges.
Lee Hyun Joo 2023: Idol Moves Forward, Focuses on Acting Career
Although the police stated that it was impossible to say whether the bullying happened or not due to a lack of evidence from both sides, Lee Hyun Joo decided to move forward and spent her energy working as an actress.
In 2023, she signed with STUDIO 1952 for the resumption of her activities and she had been paying attention to writing and painting to become a better actress.
She worked on various K-drama projects in the past, including "My Father Is Strange," "Hanging On," "Summer Guys," as well as web dramas, "Legally, Dad," and "College Life That Everyone Wants."
She is expected to have another web drama, "I Like It The Way It Is," but the broadcast date is yet to be announced.
She also hinted at her desire to publish a book someday, narrating that since elementary school, she had been writing diaries and reflecting on herself.
After becoming an adult, she had been writing essays containing her thoughts and stories and she would like to collect it and release it someday.
"When I write, I organize my thoughts a lot. When I told my mom that I was writing, she was surprised and brought me a file. It was a note with my mom's essays and poems written when she was 23 years old. I started writing around that time. There must be a separate DNA. Ha ha."
In May, Lee Hyun Joo also held a solo fan meeting, "Hyunjoo's Forest," and met her fans for the first time in a long time.
In an interview with BIZ Star released on August 14, the star recalled this experience and said.
"I guess I worked really hard as an idol, seeing that my image at that time is still strong. Haha. I once had a good opportunity to sing an OST for a movie, and I think it relieved my resentment as a singer. I like 18-year-old Hyunjoo, but I hope you will remember 26-year-old Hyunjoo. I will do my best to show you the various charms of mature Hyunjoo."
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