Popular South Korean Trot singer Kim Ho-jung was involved in a hit-and-run incident while driving under the influence of alcohol earlier this month. His talent agency, THINK Entertainment, along with its CEO, department head, and manager, were implicated in covering up the crime for him. In response, the company announced today that all employees involved in the incident will resign, and a new representative director will be appointed.
On the night of May 9th, Kim Ho-jung collided with a taxi on the opposite lane and fled the scene. Following the instructions of the company’s CEO, his manager wore Kim Ho-jung’s clothes and surrendered to the police, attempting to take the blame for Kim Ho-jung. The CEO of the agency even publicly claimed that Kim Ho-jung had not been drinking. Moreover, the department head secretly took the memory card from the vehicle’s black box after the accident, raising suspicions of evidence tampering.
On the 19th, the tenth day after the incident involving Kim Ho-jung, it was publicly confirmed that he had indeed driven drunk and fled the scene. However, the company still announced that he would proceed with his scheduled events, including the “TVAROTTI CLASSIC ARENA TOUR 2024,” sparking public condemnation.
On the 22nd, the Seoul Gangnam Police Station applied for an arrest warrant for Kim Ho-jung for suspected violations of specific crime punishment laws (hit-and-run causing injury and reckless driving causing injury). The CEO and department head of the agency also received arrest warrants for suspicion of abetting the escape of a criminal and destroying evidence. On that day, the agency stated that Kim Ho-jung would halt all activities after the “World Union Orchestra Super Classic” performance scheduled for the 23rd to the 24th and cooperate with the police investigation.
In response, THINK Entertainment issued an official statement today (27th) declaring, “We apologize once again for disappointing many people with the recent incident involving Kim Ho-jung. THINK Entertainment has decided that all employees involved in this incident will resign, and a new representative director will be appointed.”
The statement also addressed, “We apologize to our artists under the company for this incident. We are currently discussing whether to continue our talent management business in the future. We will give top priority to the opinions of our artists and are willing to unconditionally terminate exclusive contracts during negotiations.”
Ending the statement, THINK Entertainment expressed, “To avoid causing further losses to all partner companies due to this incident, we will do our utmost to handle aftermath. We apologize once again to everyone who has suffered losses due to our company and Kim Ho-jung. We are truly sorry.”
Furthermore, although Kim Ho-jung performed as scheduled on the 23rd, he had to undergo an investigation on the 24th as per the arrest warrant, leading to the cancellation of his performance that day. Both the CEO and department head of his agency were also arrested on the same day.