Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
About a year ago Soojin left (G)I-DLE following bullying allegations, and about six months ago her contract with Cube Entertainment was terminated following her losing a lawsuit against her accusers. Quite frankly, I was unaware there was still anything further to determine, but Soojin recently announced that she would not be pursuing further legal action.
Releasing a statement in Korean and English, her lawyers admit she used harsh words but that was all she did, continuing to deny any other allegations. They say there was a limit to evidence in the case so legal action is difficult, but emphasize that she was acquitted by a school violence committee and was in fact bullied by unnamed seniors. Additionally, Soojin apologizes to everybody who had been hurt by her.
Gotta say, it’s fascinating how fervent stans are whenever relatively neutral news like this gets released and they act like it absolutely proves their side or something.
Cube/Soojin called out accusers saying she would leave the group if bullying allegations were true and then she ended up leaving the group. They called out Seo Shin Ae to speak out definitively, she did, and they have still not responded. Cube/Soojin then cut ties, Soojin lost a lawsuit against the bullying accusers, and now announced she will not be taking further legal action. That basically sums it up.
That said, I still don’t believe this was something that would be impossible to recover from, despite Korea understandably taking bullying issues way more seriously given its prevalence and relevance in their society. People always cite like Hyunjin of Stray Kids being able to continue as an example of unfair treatment for other accused bullies, but as I said at the time, JYP Entertainment seemed to quickly figured out when they were backed into an unwinnable position that if they want to keep the accused member in the group then the better strategy was asking for forgiveness and taking your lumps.
If Cube/Soojin never issued defiant challenges, made amends with Seo Shin Ae, and stuck to the report results, people likely never would’ve thought Seo Shin Ae’s experience validated the more bombastic claims against Soojin, and a blanket apology like Soojin’s doing now anyway for harsh words could’ve very well smoothed things over enough after some period of reflection.
Well, guess we’ll never find out now.
