Fair Trade Commission Rules No Violation in “King of Singers 2” Controversy Involving Park Seo-jin, Shin Yoo and Hwanhee
On April 10, production company CReA Studio issued an official statement addressing four major complaints submitted to the FTC: Unfair advancement of contestants Shin Yoo and Park Seo-jin to the finals without auditions; Alleged featuring advantage given to Shin Yoo during his performance; Shin Yoo’s fan café receiving exclusive information about the finals audience tickets; A ₩1.1 billion investment allegedly made by an investor associated with contestant Hwanhee’s agency.
CReA Studio stated that the FTC responded, saying none of these claims were found to involve any violations. Regarding the first complaint, the production team explained, “The concept of ‘Mystery Singer’ was introduced to heighten excitement and suspense. To ensure fairness, we imposed handicaps such as score deductions, shortened national vote periods and restricted voting rights. Therefore, it cannot be considered unfair.”
On the second complaint concerning alleged featuring privileges for Shin Yoo, they clarified, “Shin Yoo’s competition song ‘Love Story’ originally featured gugak artist Park Ae-ri. During the competition, gugak artist Kim Ji-hyun provided the vocals instead. The featured vocal (called gu-eum) is a traditional musical element, not a privilege, and the performance followed the original composition.”
As for the audience ticket issue, CReA Studio explained, “Inviting family and acquaintances to the final round was offered equally to all Top 10 finalists, and none of the invited guests had voting rights. Shin Yoo’s side mistakenly believed this included fan club members and shared the information on the fan café. However, claims that only Shin Yoo’s fans were specially invited are false.”
On the alleged ₩1.1 billion investment connected to Hwanhee’s agency, the production team stated, “There is no relationship between the contestant’s agency (BT Entertainment) and any investment in the concert. This claim is entirely groundless and irrelevant to the show’s fairness.”
CReA Studio concluded, “We respect the FTC’s clear determination that there are no issues. We will take strong action against baseless complaints and malicious comments that damage the program’s brand value and hold those responsible legally accountable.”
“King of Singers 2” is a survival variety program that selects the Top 7 “top-tier active male singers” to represent Korea at the 2025 Korea-Japan King of Singers, marking the 60th anniversary of Korea-Japan diplomatic ties. In the final round held on February 25, Park Seo-jin, Jin Hae-sung, Enoch, Shin Seung-tae, Choi Soo-ho, Kang Moon-kyung and Kim Jun-su were chosen as the Top 7.
