“Areum, I’m going to beat the dust off you” What was in Ryu Hyo-young’s threatening messages?
On Nov 11th, Ryu Hyo-young stated, “The reason I’m posting this is to explain the bullying incident involving my younger sister and my text message incident.” She continued, “Hwa-young told me that she was being ostracized by T-ara members, saying things like ‘It’s too hard’ and ‘I miss you, sister.’ The text incident was the result of my attempt to stop them from bullying my sister.”
Ryu Hyo-young admitted, “I know it was foolish to send those messages, and I still regret it to this day. I had previously apologized to Areum for the texts and still feel sorry.” She added, “But I was only 20 years old, and there was nothing I could do. I was afraid my sister might make a terrible choice if I did nothing. I hope everyone understands that this was my immature and inadequate way of trying to protect my beloved family.”
On Nov 9th, T-ara’s past bullying controversy resurfaced due to comments made by CEO Kim Kwang-soo. On MBN’s “Let’s Go Go Season 3”, CEO Kim acknowledged past conflicts among T-ara members, stating, “I had both Hwayoung and her twin sister Hyoyoung bring in their contracts and tore them up, telling them, ‘Leave. I’ll release you without any conditions. Go pursue your careers.’ The [remaining] T-ara members did nothing wrong, so we pushed forward with their broadcasts.” In response, Hwayoung countered “I don’t understand why they’re making biased and distorted comments about an incident from 12 years ago“, asserting that the bullying was real and claiming she had been verbally and physically abused by T-ara members, reigniting public interest in the truth of the controversy.
Adding to the controversy was the revelation of Ryu Hyo-young’s threatening messages to T-ara’s new member Areum. In 2017, after the Ryu sisters appeared on a broadcast discussing the bullying incident, a former T-ara staff member, identified as “A”, exposed these messages. “A” claimed Ryu Hyo-young sent messages to Areum saying things like, “I’m going to beat the dust off you at ‘Music Bank’. Just wait“, “I’m going to scratch your face so you can’t go on TV” and “Dogs only listen when they take a beating.” At that time, Ryu Hyo-young apologized, saying she acted out of a protective instinct for her sister, who was struggling, but faced harsh criticism nonetheless.
Now, after seven years, Ryu Hyo-young has addressed the incident again with an apology. It remains to be seen if this apology will shift public opinion in her favor.
Source: Daum
