Taesaja's Lee Dong Yoon Releases Explanation And Apology Over Allegations Of Past Criminal Activity

Amid allegations of past criminal activity, Taesaja’s Lee Dong Yoon and his agency have released a formal explanation and apology.

On January 9, a post titled “Wasn’t a Taesaja member who appeared on ‘Sugar Man’ a former convict?” was uploaded onto an online community. Taesaja made their debut in 1997 and had several hit songs before their disbandment in 2001. They most recently reunited on season three of JTBC’s “Sugar Man.”

The author of the post shared that their cousin had lived in the same neighborhood as Lee Dong Yoon and wrote, “Lee Dong Yoon was a bully in middle school. He got into a lot of trouble because of alcohol, cigarettes, girls, and school violence, among other things.” They added, “He even got arrested in middle school for purse-snatching and after a couple months, came out and went to the United States while on probation.” The post has since been deleted.

Through his agency Creative Kkot (Creative Flower), Lee Dong Yoon released a statement saying, “Since it is my fault for spending my childhood so immaturely, I think it’s right to acknowledge those times and sincerely apologize, rather than argue about each thing individually. I am once again feeling regretful over those actions and am reflecting deeply.” He also reaffirmed that not all the rumors were true, adding, “I apologize once again for hurting our fans with this shameful topic. Since this is about me, I sincerely hope my hardworking members will not be affected by this.”

His agency also stated, “In the future, we plan to take strong legal action against comments that do not contain any confirmed truth. Please refrain from writing exaggerated speculative articles.” Through a separate media outlet, Creative KKot further explained, “Even when we personally confirmed with him, he said he had never been arrested. He was not a bully nor a former convict. He has never hit, harassed, or taken money from anyone.”

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