This is a follow-up to “Time to learn the truth about the T-ara scandal and stop the hate” (I have changed the title to give readers a better idea of my intention). Please remember that by defending Hwayoung I am not attacking T-ara and I support them without reservation.

Way's story of verbal, psychological and physical abuse by group managers and company management is quite shocking. https://youtu.be/uyKQUGMJXoY?t=394

The haters' argument that Hwayoung caused all the trouble is heavily dependent on the evidence of staff and management. We should not assume that they are faultless characters and that their statements about Hwayoung are a perfect representation of objective reality. It may be that they caused the bad relationship with Hwayoung and have reasons to be less than completely open and honest.

I asked six questions which strike at the heart of the Hwayoung haters' case. Nobody has given a convincing answer to any of them nor made any specific objection to anything that I actually wrote in the article, but I did have a number of hostile comments.

diadems responded in his usual manner:

“Fuck right off. How about you leave it behind and quit lying?”

When I asked him where I had lied he didn't tell me.

Pete Nelson replied four times without addressing a single point that I made. He started with “Still peddling this BS, I see.” He didn't tell me what was wrong with it, preferring to ridicule and insult me and tell me that I need help. Assistance with this project would welcome, but he means that I need psychiatric help because I have a “weird, obsessive need to defend Hwayoung.” This comes from a man who keeps claiming that I cannot possibly know what goes on in the minds of the people involved in this story, but does not hesitate to make that type of judgement himself, and thinks he can determine that I have a mental disorder when he has not even bothered to read the evidence that I have presented. I responded with a poem by Edgar Guest, The Unknown Friends. https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-unknown-friends

The Questions

If Hwayoung was not genuinely injured why would she want want to miss the concerts at the Budokan?

Diadems claimed she didn't want to be an idol and it was her exit strategy, but it's a strangely difficult and messy one. She could have just said she wanted to stop. The staff wanted her to go, the other members wouldn't want to keep her in if she didn't want to stay, and they had Areum ready to replace her. There was no need to make trouble to get herself out of the group.

Why did the manager who went to the first hospital with Hwayoung report that she would be fine for the concerts when he must have known that she thought she would not?

No answer received

Hwayoung has never said anything bad about T-ara but is often accused of destroying them with her lies. What did she say that was not true?

No answer received

Hwayoung is often accused of playing the victim, meaning the victim of T-ara's bullying. How does this fit with her denial that any bullying happened?

No answer received

Why did the anonymous staff member claim to be unable to watch Hwayoung playing the victim on Taxi?

Don't answer without reading Chapter 4 of The True Story of the T-ara Bullying Scandal

Why did that staff member have a copy of the Kakao Talk conversation between Hyoyoung and Areum?

Lunarian replied “It isn't unusual for 'receipts' of wrongdoing to be kept for a long time in cases like these,” but that does not answer the question. This is not the person who was threatened but someone who worked for the company at the time and has since left. The story was released without Areum being consulted and it looks like personal revenge or an MBK operation to gain sympathy for T-ara.

Further Thoughts

How did Hwayoung travel to the hotel? If the staff drove her there she must have had permission from the manager. Her absence from the rehearsal allowed him to say whatever he wanted without her challenging it and would be very helpful if he was trying to split her from the group.

I find it quite surprising that the leak of the stories happened so quickly after the broadcast of Taxi, as if it was all prepared and ready to go. How many of the fans who expressed their outrage knew what Hwayoung had actually said and why she shed a few tears?

It may have been a way for MBK to let the information out without apparently telling the story themselves. Accusing the twins of acting like the victims was all it would take to cause uproar among T-ara fans who hadn't seen it and didn't know what they said. The myth that Hwayoung talked about bullying and cried about being bullied took a firm hold and TVN deleted the video “to prevent further drama.” It's often claimed that was done to protect the twins, but it's more likely that the reason was to stop people watching it and finding out what really happened. The version with English subtitles on K-Con remained until the site was completely changed. I used to direct people to it to see the truth; it's not there now, but you can read a transcript of the subtitles in my story of the scandal.

Did somebody from TVN tip off MBK before it was shown, saying that Hwayoung had cried, and suggest they got a social media campaign going suggesting that she was playing the victim? Was that when the messages were supplied to the ex-staffer? It wouldn't be inconsistent with previous actions of KKS and the company but it would be a risky strategy. Hwayoung could have responded by telling the full story of the events in Japan, and MBK would be relying on her being willing to take the hate to avoid making things worse for T-ara.

CCM/MBK had kept the Hyoyoung story under wraps as part of a deal with the “We demand truth from T-ara” movement, who were threatening legal action, and to stop Hwayoung talking too much. Her view of events in Japan and the manner of her dismissal would be different from the impression MBK wanted to give and would not be as helpful to T-ara as those fans who want her to tell the full truth like to imagine. KKS even said on the day he fired her her that he hoped she would keep quiet. She did just that for a few weeks and has been vilified for it ever since.