Around Us Entertainment has responded to rumors that Yong Junhyung is another celebrity in the chatroom where illegal hidden camera footage was shared.

The March 11 episode of SBS’s “8 O’Clock News” included a report on the chatroom involving BIGBANG’s Seungri. It was previously reported that hidden camera videos and photos were shared between a total of eight people in the chatroom, including Seungri, two male singers, CEO Yoo of Yoori Holdings, acquaintance Mr. Kim, one entertainment agency employee, and two regular citizens.

SBS News reported on March 11 that one of the singers is Jung Joon Young. Another member of the chatroom was labeled in the report as “Singer Yong.” This is not a common family name in Korea. There has been some speculation online that the singer is Yong Junhyung of Highlight.

On the evening of March 11, his agency Around Us Entertainment stated, “We have confirmed that it is not Yong Junhyung. It is a groundless rumor.”

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Updated March 11 KST:

Around Us has now further clarified the situation in a statement. The agency stated that the message from “Singer Yong” shown on SBS “8 O’Clock News” as part of the report was from a one-on-one conversation between Yong Junhyung and Jung Joon Young from 2016, and clarified that the Highlight member has never been in a group chat with Jung Joon Young.

Their statement is as follows:

Hello, this is Around Us Ent. We are writing in regards to the news of the reveal of singer Jung Joon Young’s KakaoTalk chatroom, which was reported on SBS’s ‘8 O’Clock News’ on March 11, 2019. We are aware that people are saying that Highlight member Yong Junhyung is the ‘Singer Yong’ that is shown in the contents of the conversation from the group chatroom with illegal hidden camera footage that was revealed on the news. Yong Junhyung has no connection to the filming or sharing of illegal videos. Also, Yong Junhyung has never been in a chatroom where Jung Joon Young’s illegal hidden camera videos were shared. In addition to that, we have confirmed that he has never been in any group chatroom at all with Jung Joon Young. We directly confirmed with Yong Junhyung after the news report and found out that conversation that was shared in the news was originally the content of a one-on-one conversation between Jung Joon Young and Yong Junhyung. Previously in 2016 when Jung Joon Young was having a hard time due to a personal matter, Yong Junhyung asked him what was happening. Jung Joon Young replied ‘I got caught taking a video and sending it [the message included symbols for laughter],” and [Yong Junhyung] asked in return, ‘You mean you were caught by the woman?’ In regards to the simulated group chatroom screenshot that was shared in the news, we plan to verify with SBS News about the authenticity. Of course, it is true that he is a friend of Jung Joon Young, however being caught up in this matter for the simple reason of them being friends has made Yong Junhyung and everyone who knows him feel aggrieved. We will be taking strict legal action in cases of the damaging of our artist’s reputation through the continued spread of false information and malicious posts or comments. We hope that the fans, who must have been very surprised by the sudden news during the evening, are quickly able to relax. We ask for your continued interest and love for the five members of Highlight. Thank you.

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