Goo Hara’s Controversy: Assault Incident with Boyfriend
On September 13, 2018, Goo Hara was revealed to be under suspicion of assaulting her boyfriend. According to the Gangnam Police Station, the report was filed at around 12:30 a.m. KST, on September 13. It was said that her boyfriend, Choi Jong-bum, broke up with her, and she had a violent response. She claimed that it was two-sided violence. At first, the opinions among netizens were split into two. While one side supported Goo Hara’s version of the story, the other side was still suspicious and considered Choi Jong-bum’s story to be true because, among female celebrities, Goo Hara is known to be quite a bit stronger than most. But later, on September 17, the Korean news outlet Dispatch released their interview with Goo Hara, herself. Dispatch had officially confirmed the cause of the fight with messages exchanged between Goo Hara and Choi Jong-bum, between Choi Jong-bum and Goo Hara’s housemate, and the phone call between Choi Jong-bum and Goo Hara’s manager. On September 10, Goo Hara was eating with her manager and “A”, a man who also works in the entertainment industry. She told her boyfriend that she was only eating with her manager, but later Choi Jong-bum found out that A was also present, through a phone call with her manager. This made Choi Jong-bum angry with Goo Hara because she was lying. Two days later, Goo Hara came to Choi Jong-bum’s workplace to explain herself, but Choi Jong-bum just told her to go home. About the reason why she lied about A’s presence, Goo Hara explained that Choi Jong-bum usually treats her well and is friendly, but whenever another man is brought up, they always ended up in a fight. He also says things that are hard to bear and she didn’t want to fight over something like that, so she lied about A’s presence to Choi Jong-bum. Dispatch interviewed Goo Hara again, with her housemate, “B”, for their side of the story about the incident that took place on September 13. On that day, at dawn, around 12:30 a.m., Choi Jong-bum entered the two girls’ home, drunk, and Goo Hara was sleeping in B’s room. B woke up from the sound of the door opening and Choi Jong-bum coming into the room, so B pretended that she was asleep. He asked Goo Hara, “Are you able to sleep in a situation like this?”, and kicked her. After that, the two left the room and argued outside. According to Goo Hara, Choi Jong-bum cursed and pushed her, so she pushed him back. The fight became more physical, and Choi Jong-bum grabbed Goo Hara’s hair and pulled her. He also pushed her with a whiteboard and threw an air purifier at her. Goo Hara tried to fight him back by scratching him, and they fought seriously enough to leave her bruised. As Choi Jong-bum left the two girls’ home, he threatened Goo Hara with messing up her life as a celebrity, saying he had nothing to lose. He also said that he would send a tip to Dispatch. Goo Hara didn’t want to cause any more trouble, so she wanted to stop him and sent him a message that they should meet to talk about it. At 1:26 a.m., Dispatch actually received an email from someone who was expected as Choi Jong-bum, saying he had a tip about Goo Hara and leaving them his contact information. He sent the same message to Dispatch at 4:20 a.m., but when Dispatch tried to contact him, he didn’t answer. After Choi Jong-bum left, Goo Hara sent him a message, hoping that he wouldn’t report the incident to the media. She told him that she would bring A to meet him and clear up any misunderstandings. Goo Hara also said that she would even make A kneel in front of Choi Jong-bum, if that’s what he wanted, but Choi Jong-bum said that he didn’t want to talk and he couldn’t even go to work because she scratched his face during their fight. Choi Jong-bum kind of asked Goo Hara to take responsibility for the fight, and said that if she didn’t respond, he would report her to the police. According to B’s testimony, Choi Jong-bum is always suspicious of males around Goo Hara who she through work. He always asked who they were, and he always says vulgar things when he drinks. Goo Hara would always lie to avoid fighting, and the cycle continued like that. B also added that on that day, Goo Hara had actually written a letter saying “Let’s end it here,” but Choi Jong-bum burned it in the bathroom. Finally, the case was getting processed, and on January 30, 2019, the Department of Crimes Against Women and Children at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office indicted Choi Jong-bum without detention. According to the prosecution, Choi Jong-bum was being charged with causing injury to Goo Hara and for threatening to leak a sex video to Dispatch. It was verified that he wasn’t the actual person who sent the email to Dispatch, however, and he was cleared of any charges for video distribution. Choi Jong-bum is currently denying all charges, but the prosecution explained that there is evidence to support the charges, including CCTV footage. Meanwhile, the police stated that Goo Hara also caused some harm to Choi Jong-bum, and forwarded her to prosecutors in November with a recommendation for indictment. However, the prosecution stated that while they acknowledged Goo Hara’s crimes, they also considered that Choi Jong-bum instigated the fight as well as the situation after the crime. They offered her leniency with a suspension of the indictment, as they took Goo Hara’s mental pain into consideration. What do you think about Goo Hara’s controversy?
Fan Meeting in Japan
Amidst the unresolved case around her assault incident with Choi Jong-bum, it was announced that Goo Hara would be holding a fan meeting in Japan. She made the announcement through a handwritten letter on her official Japanese homepage on November 12. In the letter, she apologized for causing concern with her controversy and also thanked her fans for always supporting her. She added that her fans’ messages of support always gave her strength and that she had prepared a lot for her fans. The fan meeting was held on Christmas Eve. During the event, she opened up and read a letter to her fans. In tears, she thanked her fans for always supporting her when she thought that everything was over. She also promised her fans to work even harder for them, and that she will be active both in Korea and Japan. Here is a short video of her in the fan meeting:
Meanwhile, it was reported on February 1 that Goo Hara’s contract with her agency expired and is not being renewed. What do you think about this? Don’t forget to give your thoughts on Goo Hara’s fan meeting after her controversy on the comment section!
