Yonghwa Releases Personal Statement Explaining His Scandal
CNBLUE’s Jung Yonghwa has spoken up about his university scandal for the first time in over a month following news that prosecution will be looking at the Kyunghee University admissions issue.
Jung Yonghwa begins by apologizing for not being able to speak up regarding the scandal.
“Up until now, every day, it’s really been a difficult time for me. I have been silent up until now and haven’t talked about the issue because the case was under investigation and I decided it was not right for me to first talk about a case that was still on going.
As I stated in my previous apology, I am responsible for any rules I may have violated and I am deeply reflecting on my mistakes. However, I want to talk about a lot of misunderstandings regarding this case.”
He mentioned how he went through the graduate admissions process at the time he applied.
“This case is related to the admissions process for graduate school PhD in (practical music) applied arts. In the PhD course for this field, I believed that the interviews were conducted at the discretion of the professor, since they are able to recognize an applicant’s past activities through their portfolio.
Before I entered the graduate program, I met a professor at a studio and showed him both the songs I had been working on and songs I already released. I also talked about my future plans.
I am at fault for thinking the interview only required discretion of the professor and I did not check the application rules properly, and I am reflecting on that mistake.”
Many netizens believed Yonghwa was enrolling in the PhD program to delay his military enlistment, but Yonghwa adamantly denied those rumors.
“Also, I want to make it clear that the rumors that enrolling in a PhD program even though I am not interested in my studies and only doing it to delay military enlistment are definitely false. As a Korean citizen and a Korean man, I think I have to fulfill my duty to the country just like everyone else and I have also spoken about enlisting in previous interviews.
The PhD program I applied to would allow me to focus on studying jazz music. I am a singer who creates and performs music, and I wanted to apply to a program that I can focus on studying in the field I am currently in.”
He also made sure to mention that he was also not using his upcoming military enlistment on March 5 as an escape for this issue.
“Some people are saying I am running away to the military. I am not running away. The military can never become a shelter to escape to. I have always believed that as a Korean citizen, I must obey and serve my duty to Korea. I thought it was the time to enlist so I could look back at my actions.”
Finally, he apologized to his fans and celebrities who also may have been affected by his admissions scandal.
“Honestly, it’s not important to find the person at fault or the person who made the mistake. For me, I am unconditionally sorry for my mistakes and am deeply reflecting. I promise that I will do my best to make sure a mistake like this does not happen again.
I would also like to apologize to my celebrities colleagues who have been affected by my issue. I will cooperate with future investigations by the prosecution and will work hard at correcting the things that aren’t true. Once again, I would like to sincerely apologize.
Finally, I would appreciate it if articles that contain distorted information are not published.”
