Singer Hwang Young-woong is embroiled in allegations of receiving a cash donation amounting to hundreds of millions of won, and his legal representatives have released a statement.
The law firm Doyak, which provides legal counsel to Hwang Young-woong, disclosed through Hwang Young-woong's official fan cafe on the 19th that they are airing their position regarding the SBS program "Curious Story Y."
Previously aired on the 18th, this SBS program "Curious Story Y" discussed issues concerning the joint purchase of Hwang Young-woong's album. Hwang Young-woong's fans said they wanted to make him number one and jointly purchased the album he released after reflecting on his past controversies.
They raised over 1.5 billion won in just four days, accumulating 6.1 billion won in one month. Some fans were reported to have taken loans to buy the album. Thanks to this, the first-week sales of Hwang Young-woong's new album exceeded 500,000 copies, and he successfully made a comeback after overcoming past controversies.
However, in an interview, some fans claimed, "A single individual received all the money and made the joint purchase. Looking at the transaction history, amounts of 1 million won were withdrawn daily from August 29 (2023)," and argued that cash was withdrawn from ATMs up to six times a day. They claimed that a total of 120 million won was withdrawn over 22 days.
In this regard, the former central treasurer, who managed the accounts at that time, clarified, "I delivered it to the singer. There are regional accounts, and I delivered the donations collected in cash." The side of "Curious Story Y" explained that while Hwang Young-woong was reflecting, there was no income, so they withdrew some of the joint purchase amount to deliver in cash according to the wishes of some fans.
Regarding this matter, the agency explained, "Each region wanted to donate 15 million won, so the central staff, who was in charge, withdrew the money and delivered it directly in the singer's waiting room. The singer received it. Fans in the trot genre often provide cash donations. Any issues that need to be reported have been handled for gift tax filings."
After this, allegations regarding Hwang Young-woong's cash donations were raised, and on that day, his legal representatives stated, "The transaction history is a normal procedure for delivering donations," and clarified, "The account withdrawal history of '1 million won being repeatedly withdrawn' mentioned in the broadcast is a financial record that occurred during the process of delivering donations voluntarily raised by fans across the country."
They added, "The account in question was managed by the fan cafe's organizing committee, and the donations were separate from the joint album purchase, previously made as voluntary donations. Due to limitations on ATM withdrawal amounts, cash withdrawals were carried out multiple times, and the entire amount was confirmed to be delivered to the singer by the fan committee."
The side of Hwang Young-woong stated, "Regarding certain amounts, we have completed the formal gift tax filing and payment, and the central treasurer clearly conducted the accounting, confirming there are no issues after review by tax professionals." They emphasized, "No abnormalities were found in the tax review of the account, and the details pointed out in the broadcast are extracts and edits of this entire process. This is a legitimate procedure to convey the pure intentions of the fans, not embezzlement or arbitrary usage."
They continued, "As mentioned in the broadcast regarding donations to other singers, there were several instances of declining the offer during the process of conveying the fans' intentions, but the donation received before the activities was significant because it is a fan cafe that loves the singer deeply. We will correct any inappropriate culture and take special care to prevent such issues from arising again."
Additionally, the side of Hwang Young-woong stated, "The request for the right to rebuttal before the broadcast was made only two days prior," and expressed, "This was a case where the request for minimal rebuttal was made after the interviews and edits were already completed, and we regret that the basic principle of broadcasting, which is 'sufficient opportunity for rebuttal was not provided', was not upheld."
In response, the side of Hwang Young-woong stated that legal actions including filing with the Press Arbitration Commission, civil and criminal lawsuits against SBS and relevant informants, and claims for corrections regarding the broadcast content are already in progress, stating, "Prior to the broadcast, we already sent a notice of content, applied for a temporary injunction against the broadcast, and have adequately warned and responded to the unilateral nature of the broadcast."
Meanwhile, Hwang Young-woong emerged as a strong candidate for victory on the show 'Burning Trotman' in 2023. However, he became embroiled in controversy following allegations of his past, including incidents of violence from a former girlfriend and a military service colleague, which surfaced. Additionally, the fact that Hwang Young-woong had previous convictions for injury became known, leading to further controversy, and ultimately, he had to withdraw from the program.
[Photo] SNS
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