Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Okay, so this is a mess that’s actually been brewing for a while. Basically, ALPHA BASE ONE member Geonwoo has been under fire on social media due to his alleged poor attitude behind the scenes and abusive remarks to staff, according to multiple industry representatives.
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Let’s backtrack back to February when all of this started up, when an anonymous accusation appeared on a mom online cafe (yes, really). In it, she explained that her daughter just started out her career at MBC and was recently traumatized by a celebrity.
“A week ago, my daughter called me and just started sobbing. She said that it was too much, that she wanted to die.. When my husband and I took the KTX over right away, she looked worn as could be. And her wrists looked like they’d been scraped by something, the spots red and puffy. When she saw us getting off the bus, she began bawling her eyes out. All three of us hugged and cried then. She said that she was unimaginably hurt by a celebrity.”
The post continued, “I won’t write down the name since I’m scared of the legal repercussions. He is a rookie, just debuted. Of course, if I could have it my way, I would sue him for obstruction of business and for insulting, but he’s housed under a large corporation so it will only come back to bite my daughter..”
According to the mother, “My daughter is on the rounder side. She also gained 15 kg after college. Apparently, when my daughter gave his idol group some instructions, that male idol said, maybe thinking that she couldn’t hear him, ‘F*** can that fat a** just shut up.’ But my daughter heard it. She also heard another member say, ‘Hey, don’t say stuff like that in public, that’s crossing the line.’ While the filming resumed, she said that he kept eyeing her up and down with disdain. Then, when there was an issue with a prop that was to be used for the filming, he said to her, ‘Are you sure this is something a person can actually use? Did you seriously bring this thinking that it would work?’. I responded angrily to her story, ‘How can an idol be like that? And not just any plain idol at that, one that was ‘chosen by the people’ through some survival show on tvN or Mnet or whatever that broadcasting station is’.”
Finally, the accuser claimed, “The rookie male idol’s surname is Kim. He is apparently 24-years old and tall and looming, or threatening you might even say. Every night since I heard my daughter’s troubles, I have been wishing him misfortune. I’ve just never seen my daughter cry like that.”
Afterward, the alleged daughter came forward and named Kim Geonwoo as the perpetrator.
Notably, the individual claiming to be the MBC FD directly revealed the identity of the accused, saying, “ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s Kim Geon Woo has horrible character. He’s so rude that the rumors about him are rampant in the industry. I’ve nothing to lose, so I’ll open up his name. Seriously, avoid Kim Geon Woo. Trust the rumors.”
She also later clarified that she didn’t intend to expose him before her mother’s post, and she posted proof of her psychiatric treatment. She also said she was not going to pursue it further unless they tried to take legal action against her.
Further accusations then followed, as a stylist came forward with further accusations of a famous incident on the set of IDOL 1N2D.
“He apparently had a bad attitude even before the filming started. From what I heard, he was discontent about something during the setup stage for the filming. Then, when the filming started, the staff gave them instructions for something. Without realizing that his mic was on and so everyone could hear him, Kim Geon Woo said out loud, ‘Okay what the f*** do they want us to do. They’re saying a bunch of s***.’ Literally everyone on the crew heard him, and they all went quiet.. I heard they completely stopped the filming for a while after that. Their managers then had to practically beg in apology. The head manager too. It got reported to the higher ups so I’m pretty certain everyone in the entertainment branch at KBS knows about it.”
Apparently it was indeed famous, as an SBS employee on Blind that he was “red flagged” at broadcasting stations and everybody knows about the IDOL 1N2D incident (another stepped forward to affirm his mic being on). An MBC employee said he was uniquely rude among even K-pop idols who were rude, and a Bill Entertainment employee (Geonwoo was a trainee there) also affirmed his poor treatment of people.
After all of this, WAKEONE released a general blanket statement in February about taking legal action against malicious posts against both ALPHA DRIVE ONE and ZEROBASEONE, which ZB1 fans weren’t happy with in terms of being dragged into this when it seemed clear they meant these allegations about Geonwoo.
After that, the company and idol seems to try and resume activities as normal, and it seemed like nothing might come from it despite fan outcry. However, recently the company announced Geonwoo would be going on hiatus and the idol issued a personal apology.
We would like to clarify the facts regarding Kim Geonwoo’s remarks that have been raised online. The relevant incident occurred on set when filming content prior to debut. At the time, Kim Geonwoo expressed dissatisfaction using inappropriate language without realizing that his microphone was on. His remarks were not criticism or a personal attack directed at any specific individual but were spoken in the form of a muttered remark to himself. Nevertheless, they were inappropriate under any circumstances. We once again offer our deepest apologies to the staff on site who may have felt uncomfortable as a result. We are also truly sorry for causing concern to our fans.
Immediately after the incident, he conveyed his apology to the production team, and our company understood the matter to have been concluded through mutual communication. In addition, we did not release a separate statement considering that it could place additional burden on or cause harm to the production team. However, afterward, various suspicions that differed from the facts were raised online, and the process of verifying whether each claim was true took time, which led to the delay in our statement. Aside from this matter, the various other suspicions currently being raised online are not true. We ask that you refrain from indiscriminately spreading unverified information. Nevertheless, our failure to provide you with a prompt explanation was clearly a lack of judgment on our part.
It’s honestly kind of surprising that they’re basically admitting to all of this but letting him remain in the group. Especially so considering this isn’t exactly a first-time thing with him.
The reason why all of this seemed to be more believable than any other accusation is because even back on Boys II Planet, Geonwoo faced allegations of having a poor character and bullying a former trainees at his agency. At the time, he issued a handwritten letter of apology, he admits to hurting people, though vaguely says parts of it were not true.
To start, as mentioned in the post that sparked the controversy, regardless of the reason, I want to sincerely apologize and say I’m truly sorry for the hurtful words and actions that caused pain and difficulty to many people.
At that time, I was in the position of a team leader and was going through a difficult period. Driven by the pressure and responsibility to perform well, I was immature and unskilled in how I led my fellow trainees. Through that process, I ended up hurting several people, and I deeply regret that and offer my heartfelt apology.
Although there are parts of the post that are distorted or not true, after careful consideration, I believe that what’s most important is to take responsibility and apologize for the things I did wrong, regardless of what’s true and what’s not. That’s why I am writing this letter of reflection.
Like I’m all for second chances for past mistakes and what not, but he’s 22 and was a trainee at his former company starting in 2022. That’s just contemporary and consistent incidents of him being a menace that reflect on who he is and has been for the past four years or so, and at some point it’s not a right to be in the entertainment industry.
