Lovelyz’s Mijoo Posts Official Apology Regarding Sexual Harassment Controversy

Lovelyz’s Mijoo released an official apology statement in regards to her behavior on her video that was posted online.

Mijoo realized that her video became the center of controversy and delivered her apologies to the appropriate party through the production team.

She revealed that although she received consent from the participant before filming the video, she failed to realize that viewers might feel uncomfortable watching it and apologized for her actions.

She added that she was truly apologetic towards the participant that came on the show. “‘Going forward, I will be more careful and work harder to become a better Mijoo. I apologize once again for causing a disturbance to many people.”

The controversial video was through the first episode of her new MIJOOPIKCHU series for her YouTube channel back in June. She met with different people at Seoul Forest and made a sexual harassment remark during a conversation with participant A who was a college student the same age as Mijoo.

In the process of taking a photo and posting it to social media, Mijoo found out that the participant had a girlfriend. To this, she commented, “You have a girlfriend? How far did you go with her? How long have you guys been dating?”

To this the participant revealed that they have been together for about 200 days. Mijoo then responded with, “You guys must have gone all the way then that’s for sure.” Taken aback, the participant expressed that they had only kissed so far. Mijoo took it further by saying, “Don’t lie. Aren’t you a man?”

While filming this, the production team joined in on the joke and commented, “Where are you looking at? Mijoo’s gaze is…” These jokes made by the production team proved that they understood the sexual harassment jokes that were going on but still decided to use it in the video.

Recently on September 8, this video became a huge controversy, causing the video to be turned to private. The production crew for Mijoo stated, “We apologize for causing concern to the citizens who have been hurt by our carelessness during the interview.”

They promised to pay more attention to the production process so that a problem like this would not repeat again in the future.

Below is the full apology statement from Mijoo.

Hello this is Lovelyz’s Mijoo. I have recognized the controversy in regards to my video and have apologized to the appropriate parties through the production staff. I apologize once again for making reckless remarks without considering the discomfort the viewers and fans might have felt, although I received consent from the participants at the time. I truly apologize to the participant, who must be going through the hardest time regarding this. I will be more careful in the future and will continue to work harder. I apologize once again for causing concern to many people.

— Mijoo