CNBLUE‘s Yonghwa has been embroiled in an admissions scandal involving Kyung Hee University since January, which included questions about delaying military enlistment and led to him heading off to the military. Yonghwa actually ended up being charged with obstruction by authorities, but FNC Entertainment recently clarified the case through a statement, saying that Yonghwa has been cleared.
“Hello, this is FNC Entertainment. We are relaying news about our artist Jung Yong Hwa’s admission to his graduate school’s doctoral program. At the beginning of this year, Jung Yong Hwa diligently cooperated with prosecutorial investigations. The result [of those investigations] was that the prosecutor ultimately determined that Jung Yong Hwa was not guilty of obstruction of business in regards to his school admissions, and in July, the prosecutor decided not to indict him. Through the judgment of the law, Jung Yong Hwa, who was found not guilty, was able to cast off the various misunderstandings and suspicions that had surrounded his doctoral program admissions process, and it has been acknowledged [by the law] that he did not have any intention of receiving preferential admission.”
Turns out the professor was behind all the mess and will be going to jail for it. And honestly? This was rather surprising to me, though again less because Yonghwa was evil or something and more because I figured this stuff was just the status quo for celebrities.
Personally, I never felt like this thing was a significant issue, and I think international netizens generally felt the same. However, Korean netizens definitely felt differently and it was a huge mess there, so this being cleared up should make a significant difference for him.