A Chinese news site reported what seems to be a rumor about Hankyung and SNSD. Long story short, the article indicated that Hankyung's real reason for wanting to terminate his contract was not just an unfair contract, but mistreatment by SNSD members. Many Korean fans are questioning whether or not this story on sohu.com was created to intentionally hurt SNSD. Sohu.com reported:

Hankyung wants to leave SM Entertainment not only because of his contract, but because of the mistreatment from other artists of the company. It's been reported that he has been receiving hurtful comments from SNSD for some time. He was disregarded by people after working very hard and developed psychological disorders.

Because of the disorders, he wanted to take a break but they denied his request. SNSD has always been sarcastic and used satire against him. For example, they would say to him, "Oppa! Do you think you can look Korean by dyeing your hair blonde?" Comments of this nature hurt Hankyung and he couldn't take it anymore.