Yong Junhyung (HyunA’s boyfriend) addresses connection to Jong Joon Young & Burning Sun scandal again – Asian Junkie

Former BEAST/Highlight member Yong Junhyung has been back in the spotlight recently due to his relationship with HyunA and his loose connection to the Burning Sun scandal through Jung Joon Young.

Back in 2019, he had admitted to and apologized for receiving and watching an illegal video footage from Jung Joon Young and making inappropriate conversation about it, but denied any involvement in the chatrooms. A bystander, basically. Then in 2022 when he returned to the industry, he addressed and apologized again for his involvement. Now, I suppose given the reemergence of the issue following a documentary on it and the backlash HyunA has received, he decided to speak up again on Instagram. He again clarifies his role and talks about reflecting overit, and it’s probably best just to post the whole thing in full:

“Hello, this is Yong Jun Hyung.
Back then, I was foolish and wrong. I couldn’t fix the wrong situation and didn’t know the right choice due to the criticism. Due to fear, I didn’t want to cause damage to the company and members, and because it was a place that I worked at for many years, it was really special to me. I was prepared to lose everything when I made the decision to leave the group.
I was sent a video in my messenger without any explanation and I pressed the black screen. I didn’t know what it would be or what the intention was before I pressed the video. Afterward, I could have said, ‘Stop, this is wrong,’ but I couldn’t, and just ignored my actions.
But, as I said before and what I said later, I have never entered any chat room and was not involved in the incident where things that I don’t even want to talk about has happened.
Over the years, media and the public have continued to state that I was a part of the incident and a member of the chatroom and that I consumed illegal footage…So I responded to the parts that were not true, but no article or person revealed that I was not a part of the incident, making me the same as the people in the chatroom.
I didn’t have the confidence to bring up the past and talk about it, so I thought things would settle down if I just didn’t find the courage and ignore the issue.
I endured and persevered even though I was hurt and scarred. Please…I beg you..I hope that my family and the people that are special to me, including my fans, don’t get hurt.
To everyone and reporters, I will work hard and live every day reflecting on my actions and remarks that I couldn’t correct in the past.
Thank you for reading this long post. It’s easy to catch a cold in the hot summer. Everyone take care and have a good day!”

Honestly, seems like the main thing he wanted to clarify was his role in the scandal, which is that he was more of a bystander and not an active participant. Based on all reporting done, that appears to be true and it’s understandable that he’d want to clarify that. However, while I get that it’s his third time addressing this, I probably would’ve continued to be more apologetic in tone given the enormity of the scandal he’s connected with. And as I mentioned even back in 2019, it’s weird that none of the apologies seem to mention the victims.

Anyway, as I always say when it comes to moral judgments, it’s up to the individual to decide on what his continued level of responsibility should be and the level of forgiveness (if any) they grant him, and really even whether they believe that was the extent of his involvement. But since things do get distorted on social media for better or worse, at least getting an accurate recounting of events to judge with seems useful to have.