Korean boy band CNBLUE member Yonghwa has decided to quit as a TV host and cancel his scheduled Seoul concert over the raging controversy regarding his being given preferential treatment for admission to Kyunghee University.
Yonghwa was accused of getting special treatment by Kyunghee University in order for him to be admitted to the Applied Arts graduate doctorate program. It turned out that he did not attend the admission interview at the university but instead he was interviewed privately.
His agency, FNC Entertainment, admitted that it "took care of Yonghwa's application including filling out his forms, submitting them, and contacting the school."
"Both the label and Yonghwa believed that he was undergoing the normal application process until the situation became problematic. Yonghwa believed that the individual interview was the regular process, and he attended the interview as the label scheduled," it said.
Yonghwa issued a handwritten apology to say that "no matter what the reason, no matter what the truth is, I know everything is my fault and I am deeply sorry."
As a result of the controversy, it was announced that Yonghwa stepped down as co-host of the Olive TV show "Talk Mon."
"Due to the controversy surrounding Yonghwa, he's taking responsibility, and because he doesn't want it to negatively impact the program, he's decided to leave the show along with agreement from the producers. We once again deeply apologize for disappointing the producers, the cast, and the viewers," explained his agency.
He also decided not to hold his concert that was scheduled on January 20 to 21.
"We've decided to unavoidably cancel the press opening for Yonghwa's '2018 Jung Yong Hwa Live [Room 622] in Seoul' concert on the 21st at 5 PM KST," said FNC Entertainment.
Netizens have criticized Yonghwa over his apology and controversy.
"Nope, not enough, go back. Be thoroughly investigated for the suspicions," wrote one Korean while another commented "I can't make out what he's trying to apologize for.
One said, "Celebrities really do get it easy" while another posted "enough with your nonsense, farewell."
