K-Pop Stars Jungkook, Cha Eun Woo, Mingyu, Jaehyun's Agencies Apologise; Fans Angry On Twitter

On May 18, Dispatch reported that BTS’s Jungkook, SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu, NCT’s Jaehyun, and ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo had spent a night out in the neighbourhood of Itaewon where the recent resurgence of COVID-19 began.

South Korea recently saw a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases after a patient with the virus visited clubs in the neighbourhood of Itaewon in Seoul.

The companies confirmed Korean tabloid Dispatch’s report that among those who visited the clubs were BTS’s Jungkook, Seventeen’s Mingyu, NCT’s Jaehyun, and ASTRO’s Cha Eun Woo and apologised on their behalf for breaking social distancing rules.

According to Dispatch, the four idols hung out in a restaurant and two bars in the neighbourhood of Itaewon from the evening of April 25 till dawn on April 26. The aforementioned confirmed patient visited clubs in the area on May 2 and tested positive on May 6. After this confirmed case was announced, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ) requested that anyone who visited entertainment facilities (a category that includes clubs, bars, and more) in Itaewon between April 24 and May 6 refrain from leaving their homes.

Reports about idols who were spotted in Itaewon surfaced a few days earlier, but the idols’ names were not revealed, and their agencies stated that they could not verify the fact as it pertained to the artists’ personal lives.

Following Dispatch’s report this day, each idol’s agencies released official statements stating that the report is true and that all idols had tested negative for COVID-19.

However, the agencies did not confirm whether Jungkook, Jaehyun, Cha Eunwoo and Mingyu were out together. 

Jungkook, Mingyu and Cha Eunwoo regularly hang out together as part of a group of idols dubbed the ’97-line’, as they were all born in 1997.

Jungkook is ‘feeling deeply regretful’ for not practising social distancing. In a statement, Big Hit said it initially ‘deemed it inappropriate to reveal our artist’s private life to the public.’

'He voluntarily received a test for COVID-19 at a government-designated hospital and tested negative. ‘The artist himself is currently feeling deeply regretful for not having faithfully contributed to the entire society’s social distancing efforts.’

SM Entertainment said of Jaehyun: ‘Jaehyun did not show symptoms, but when COVID-19 broke out in the club in Itaewon and started to spread, he voluntarily received a COVID-19 diagnosis test and tested negative.’

None of the artists have tested positive for the virus or had any active symptoms.

Fans are extremely angry and posting on twitter about the same. Check it out below: