Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
After Iron defended himself in an interview against accusations of sexual assault and domestic violence, the boyfriend of the alleged victim decided to speak out on the matter.
The boyfriend provided background context for the triangle between him, the alleged victim, and Iron.
“When I was with ‘A,’ we both got bored of our relationship, and so we fought a lot, grew tired of how things were, and stopped contacting one another. (I knew the truth about ‘A’ seeing Iron during this time because she told me herself.) ‘A’ contacted me at 7 a.m. on October 5 of last year, saying ‘I’m going through a hard time. Can I come over? I’m such a mess right now. I’m sorry for always making things difficult.’ I refused because I had wanted to end things with her. However, I had an uncomfortable feeling that I couldn’t shake off, and I began to worry about what might have happened to her.”
Next, he detailed how he talked with Iron and what happened when he met him.
“Then I got a call from an unknown number. When I answered the phone, it turned out to be from Iron. I was in the middle of something at the time, so I thought it was her father calling to tell me that something had happened to her. But when I went to meet him, it turned out to be Iron. He was in an agitated state, and was hitting his own face while saying, ‘If you have something you want to say to me, then say it.’ I tried to calm him down and told him that we should talk. So we had a conversation over some beer. When Iron and I began to talk, I wanted to settle our misunderstandings. (At the time, I had no idea that ‘A’ had been physically assaulted by him.) He told me that he called things off with ‘A’ early in the morning after the two had a fight, and said that we could help each other out if we had a problem with ‘A.’ When he spoke like that, I started to doubt him. Soon enough, I found out the truth about how he assaulted her, and I hated myself for rejecting her call.”
The boyfriend also recounted how he found the alleged victim after an alleged assault by Iron, as well as the process of reporting Iron to authorities.
“When I found ‘A,’ her face and body were literally a mess. She had a split lip, and parts of her face and her body were bruised. One of her fingers was fractured too. (At the time, she had not gone to the hospital, so we did not know it was a fracture.) When I saw that ‘A’ was too scared to report him because of the possible retaliation, it hurt my heart so much. While she was afraid of retaliation at first, ‘A’ reported him. Over the next five weeks, she was diagnosed and received surgery. After leaving the hospital, she was afraid of being in her own house and so she stayed with me instead. She received psychological counseling. Even now, the surgeries for her fractured finger are still not finished. Her parents worried a lot and lost sleep over their concern that the public would believe Iron’s word over hers. It makes me so angry to see the victims going through such difficulty while the abuser is fine.”
An important point is then brought up about the media granting Iron that interview and their subsequent reporting on it, as the details they allowed to go to press essentially permitted Iron to out an alleged abuse victim to the public.
“Today, articles stating that the case ‘happened six months ago’ were released without prior notice. ‘A’ could have taken the incident to the media as soon as it happened, but she was scared that her personal information would be released. And like the previous celebrity sexual assault cases, she was afraid of being labeled as a snake who tries to get settlement money. However, because of Iron’s fake interview, the victim’s personal information has been disclosed. And because of this, ‘A,’ who has already had to deal with assault, now has to face cyberbullying.”
It confused me as well.
Was quite disturbing to see how willing media (K & I) were to out Iron's alleged victim's identity just because she was "weird" or whatever.
— Asian Junkie (@asianjunkiecom) March 16, 2017
Like I got all the tips and I read the stories, obviously. I just didn't get why people were so eager to out an alleged victim of a crime.
— Asian Junkie (@asianjunkiecom) March 16, 2017
The boyfriend then makes a point about the rumors circulating about the alleged victim that everybody should read.
“The point of the case is that she was threatened and assaulted when trying to end the relationship. It is not about sex or her sexual preferences. Also, the gossip involving her old modeling pictures is causing a second round of pain for the victim.”
Finally, and perhaps most relevantly, the boyfriend provided a conversation the alleged victim had with Iron’s older sister.
“Lastly, I have attached a conversation between ‘A’ and Iron’s older sister. Five months ago, she attempted to reach out to ‘A’ to come to an agreement.”
The conversation appears to show Iron’s older sister trying to reach a settlement and apologizing for Iron’s actions.
Iron’s Sister: “I’m Heonchul (Iron’s real name)’s older sister. I thought you would feel burdened if Heonchul contacted you first, so please understand that I’m contacting you instead. Even I think Heonchul wronged you immensely. If you are okay with it, Heonchul wants to meet you, apologize, and talk to you. I can’t face you because I’m someone who didn’t manage her little brother properly, but if you see this, I hope you respond. I’m sorry I’m contacting you now.”
Iron’s Sister: “If you see this, please respond. I beg you. I want to talk to you in person, as well. If you’re uncomfortable [with Iron], then let’s just meet, the two of us. Please contact me back.”
Iron’s Sister: “I don’t want to talk about who did what wrong. We’re going to be seeing each other, so I hope we can solve this without the need for us to keep avoiding each other and being embarrassed in the future. Please contact me back~.
Alleged Victim: “Unni, I actually saw these messages yesterday, but I did not respond. The surgery on my finger from the injury I received back then is still not done, and I have counseling because of the trauma from the incident. I think it would be hard for me to meet you in person.”
Iron’s Sister: “No, thank you for responding. I don’t have anything I can say. I completely understand you. I don’t know what to do about this situation, either. We spent over 10 million KRW in Heonchul’s lawyer fees, so our family is not doing so well. My mother is sick as well, so we can’t let this out. So I wanted to talk to you in person and beg for kindness instead of through text because I didn’t have any other way, and I’m so thankful you responded. Heonchul is having a hard time after that day, and he’s feeling that way right now as well. I hope you can give Heonchul a chance to apologize to you and your parents. If you don’t want to see us, I hope you’ll give at least me a chance to meet your parents. I’m so sorry. Really…”
It’s difficult to read all that and come away thinking the most reasonable conclusion is to somehow believe the messy defense Iron gave in his interview. Even if you have doubts about the boyfriend’s testimony, the conversation he provided certainly seems to confirm that Iron was at fault. After all, why would Iron’s sister be so apologetic to the alleged victim if, as Iron claims, she was the violent one and she was threatening him? It doesn’t add up.
