University Students Apologize To Kyungri Of ‘9MUSES’ For Libelous Use Of Her Photo, Star Empire Entertainment Withdraws Complaint
K-pop’s idol groups usually apply a concept to make them stand out from others. The group, 2NE1 is known for being edgy and aggressive. SISTAR is known for being smooth and sexual. Girls’ Generation is known for being colorful and high-beat. No two K-pop groups are exactly the same, making the genre itself appealing and accessible to everyone willing to listen.
For Nine Muses (often stylized to 9MUSES), they are known for being seductive. All one has to do is watch their music videos for “Hurt Locker” or “Sleepless Night” (music video attached above) to realize this. However, just because 9MUSES, and each of its members individually, utilizes such a concept, it does not mean they are lewd or easy. With that understanding, university students in Korea recently apologized for using a picture of 9MUSES’ member Kyungri suggestively. As a result, Star Empire Entertainment recently dropped a complaint they filed earlier on the situation.
From what was previously reported by Korean news outlet Yonhap News, a Korean university’s fall festival poster used an image of Park Kyung Ri (better known by her stage name Kyungri) from a lingerie pictorial for suggestive reasons. Said image was given the heading of “Adult Bar” along with captions that read “flip your position,” and “I want to take the pig skin off.” Star Empire Entertainment, the agency in which 9MUSES is signed to, did not find it amusing whatsoever. They filed a complaint which includes a lawsuit at the Seoul Western District Court citing a violation of the Information Network and Data Protection Act.
“Star Empire Entertainment will no longer tolerate libel, the spreading of false rumors, and malicious comments about its affiliated artists. From now on, we will not be lenient in dealing with these complaints.”
It should be reported that prior to Star Empire Entertainment’s lawsuit, the head of the student council and the student body responsible for the illegal use of Kyungri’s image tried to explain themselves. Along with that, they also included an apology, one that Star Empire Entertainment did not see as serious which led to the lawsuit being filed.
Since then, the university students have provided a formal apology through the university’s official website, as reported by Korean news outlet Naver. It would be this apology Star Empire Entertainment would deem acceptable, and they dropped the complaint and lawsuit, as reported by Soompi.
“The university in question and the parties responsible for the distribution of the image have acknowledged their wrongdoing in creating the lewd promotional poster using Kyungri’s image and distributing it. They have presented a concrete plan to prevent recurrence of the act, and posted a public apology to their homepage. Considering such steps that they have taken to solve the issue, after internal discussion we have decided to withdraw our complaint. As soon as possible, we will be submitting a formal request to withdraw the complaint.
“This withdrawal of our complaint is an exceptional case. We state our position that in the future we will be strictly and forcefully responding to any online or offline acts of malicious libel, violation of portrait rights, or posts or comments that spread false information about the company or its affiliated artists.”
It is very good this situation involving Kyungri, and 9MUSES in general, was resolved without any major issues. At this moment, the K-pop idol girl group is in the midst of promoting their latest song “Sleepless Night.” It would surely be debilitating for them to have to deal with this situation along with promotions.
[Image via 9MUSES’ Official Facebook Page]
