▲ This photo, provided by Source Music, shows LE SSERAFIM's Kim Ga-ram. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) – K-pop rookie girl group LE SSERAFIM, which has faced a crisis due to the member Kim Ga-ram’s bullying scandal, decided to perform as a 5-member group for a while.

The agency Source Music said through the fan community Weverse on May 20 afternoon, “After we discussed with Kim Ga-ram, the singer decided to temporarily halt the schedules and focus on caring herself,” adding, “LE SSERAFIM will perform as a 5-member group for a while until Kim returns after her recovery.”

There have been allegations against Kim Ga-ram for bullying her friend ‘A’ in 2018, when she was in middle school, and the singer is currently facing a crisis as the photo of the “Notice of School Violence Committee Results” was revealed.

In particular, as it was confirmed that the victim A sent the related certification contents to HYBE(Source Music) through the law firm on Apr. 21, which was before LE SSERAFIM’s debut, the response of the agency, which denied the rumors as a “malicious slander,” has come under fire.

However, Source Music aggressively refuted the statement by saying “Kim Ga-ram was the victim of school violence as well.”

Source Music claimed, “’A’ took pictures of a friend taking her clothes off and publicly posted them on the social media page of the other friend,” adding, “Kim Ga-ram and her friends were furious about the behavior and complained, but there weren’t any physical abuse.”

It also mentioned, “’A’ admitted her wrongdoing but she wasn’t punished for the behavior, at all” adding, “’A’ ended up sending the friends, who protested against her, to the School Violence Committee, and she transferred to another school for herself.”

Source Music emphasized, “There is a number of classmates who consider A’s behavior as a problem, and there are others to testify for the incident."

The agency also pointed out that ▲ Kim Ga-ram's involuntary transfer ▲ Hitting the head with a pot or brick ▲ Going to school in a police car or having a gang fight ▲ Drinking and smoking are all not true.

Source Music argued that Kim Ga-ram was the victim, saying, "Some of the classmates invited Kim and her friend to the group chat room to tease her or swear at her,” adding, “When Kim exit the room, they would invite her back to the chat room and bullied her for not reading the text.”

It also mentioned, "We have already begun to take legal action against the cases where the evidence has been secured among false information," adding, "We will secure evidence for the rest of the cases and take additional legal measures."

The controversy is expected to continue as the agency actively clarified the bullying scandal surrounding the member Kim Ga-ram in about a month since it was first suggested.

Meanwhile, LE SSERAFIM canceled the schedules for KBS 2TV's "Music Bank," where the members were set to appear on May 20, due to such controversy over school violence. Moreover, the group has run into a problem in terms of its performances as they also cancelled the fan sign event, which was scheduled to be held on Friday.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Kim Sun Min.)

 

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