Super Junior’s Kim Heechul Apologizes For His Careless Speech – Here’s Everything “Controversial” He Said On Recent Live Broadcast
Super Junior‘s Kim Heechul recently got into hot soup when he spoke candidly during a drunken live stream. He was inebriated and had joined close friend BJ Choi Goon’s live stream on Afreeca TV. He issued an apology after the matter hit the fan.
Regardless of whether or not my thoughts are right or wrong, I apologize for having spoken roughly and using crude expressions, as well as for acting hypocritically.
I apologize the most to the fans who have been hurt because of the issue I have caused. With this as the last one, I will make sure not to get involved in any other issue in the future.
But no matter how I try to look back on it, I don’t think I was wrong in cursing that specific site as well as school violence.
Thank you.
— Kim Heechul
If you’re not yet caught up on the news, here are the issues that netizens had a bone to pick with Heechul’s broadcast.
1. Mentions of ASTRO’s Cha Eunwoo
Heechul had claimed to be close with the popular star, and in what seemed to be a misguided attempt to praise Eunwoo, Heechul ended up drawing the ire of many. Although Heechul was trying to describe Eunwoo’s masculinity, netizens believed he seemed to paint Eunwoo as someone violent and aggressive when Heechul started explaining how he though Eunwoo would act upon hearing about a bully.
I understand why he is popular, of course. He has an image on tv, but if he heard about a school bully, he would be like, ‘Hyungnim, bring that f**ker here,’ and would have slapped him. He’s such a manly man (Alpha male) who really likes to exercise…
— Heechul
2. Cursing at a specific site
Heechul had heavily criticized the female-dominated site, Yeoseong Shidae. The site was associated with feminism and had some controversy with being labeled as extremist by male-dominant sites. Heechul famously had rife with the site back in 2017, as he penned a public criticism against the site through the lyrics of the song “Charm of Life.” The lyrics read, “They pick you apart for little things, like the annoying bugs and mistresses.” The line contains a play on the word “yeoshi,” short for Yeoseong Shidae.
Heechul was upset over the site for criticizing boy groups and himself. During the recent live stream, he cursed at the site, going “those Yeoseong Shidae crazy f*ckers.”
슈퍼주니어 김희철이 오늘 아프리카 TV 출연 (사실 이것부터 에바임) 해서 남긴 주옥같은 어록들…가관이네 아주 "여성시대 개씨발년들" ? 여자 아이돌이 이랬으면 온 나라가 난리가 났을텐데 남자 아이돌은 인터넷 방송 나가서 술에 만취해가지고 여초커뮤 쌍욕하고 비속어 뱉어대도 용납되나 보지? pic.twitter.com/lDdKa1yijs
— 구독계 (@LstGpg8R85NnDsy) February 9, 2023
3. The birthday controversy
Heechul had admitted that he had claimed to be sick enough to avoid attending a schedule overseas so that he could attend Choi Goon’s birthday party instead. The company had left him to his own devices.
But I thought that since I was close to Goon, I wanted to go to his party. Of course, the company tried to stop me. They were like, Heechul, we have to do the Olympic, no the Asian Games opening. Do you really have to go? So then, I hesitated for a bit. But my pride got hurt, and I was like, hey, I’m going just to congratulate Choi Goon on his birthday and eat with him. Is that so wrong? I guess the good thing about SM is that they were just like, well, ok, we don’t know who he is, but go. Then just as soon as I went and celebrated, an article came out. For real. It was like Super Junior members were working hard for the ceremony but Heechul was off at a party.
— Kim Heechul
4. The Bokyeom controversy
Bokyeom is another popular BJ in South Korea who mainly caters to a male-dominant audience. He fell into controversy over his signature greeting, “bo-yiru,” when a female-oriented community site, Womad, suspected that he was using it to refer to the derogatory word for female genitalia. Heechul spoke out in support, questioning, “what is wrong with the word bo-yiru?”
"보겸이가 너무 힘들었다…보이루가 뭐가 문제냐!" 개인적으로 친하시고 파이팅도 많이 해주셨다네요 ^^ pic.twitter.com/aGlT7Ga47F
— 구독계 (@LstGpg8R85NnDsy) February 9, 2023
5. The Boycott Japan movement
Back when the tensions between Korea and Japan were at its peak in 2019, many Koreans began a boycott movement to products hailing from Japan. Heechul ended up cursing the movement out during the live stream, claiming “tell the no japan movement fo f*ck off! When it first started, I was like what the f*ck is this?” As many Koreans are sensitive when it comes to the tensions between the two nations, he drew much criticism for this.
With his apology, perhaps the issue will be contained before it gets even more out of hand.
