K-Pop Corner: Lee Jong-hyun officially leaves CNBLUE
Singer accused of inappropriate behaviour by YouTuber
Lee Jong-hyun officially announced his departure from CNBLUE and the band’s company on August 28.
FNC Entertainment confirmed the singer has withdrawn from the K-Pop rock band after reportedly sending inappropriate direct messages via Instagram to YouTuber Park Min-jung.
On the day of his departure, he made headlines when Park uploaded screenshots of conversations where he said he enjoyed watching her YouTube videos and thought her belly fat was cute.
This drew criticism for his unchanged behaviour and sexual advances, despite his involvement in the chat room scandal that broke in January.
In response to the backlash, the guitarist and vocalist deleted his Instagram account and released a statement through his agency apologising for his wrongdoings and for causing harm to his members.
The latest controversy comes several months after confirming he had watched the same illicit sexual videos in one-on-one private KakaoTalk chat room with Jung Joon-young and had inappropriate sexual conversations that involved degrading women. At that time, he apologised and said that he would reflect on his actions.
Lee is currently fulfilling his mandatory military service along with the other CNBLUE members Yonghwa, Minhyuk and Jungshin. He is set to be discharged by March 2020.
Lee has been an active member of pop-rock CNBLUE since 2010 and has also acted in South Korean films and TV shows.