Singer and broadcaster Lee Ji-hye recalls the swimsuit press conference that drew attention.
On the 9th episode of SBS' Dolssingpoman, Lee Ji-hye, Son Dam-bi, and Kim Ddolddol were announced to appear.
Kim Jun-ho called Lee Ji-hye's swimsuit press conference "one of the three major press conferences," and Lee Ji-hye said, "Because my development is different, people say I had surgery. I opened my armpits at the press conference. The body is natural."
When photos from before the plastic surgery were revealed, Lee Ji-hye joked, "I have one dead younger sibling," drawing laughter.
On July 30, 2006, at 8 a.m., Lee Ji-hye posed in a bikini that revealed her chest at the Namsan Tower Hotel pool in Seoul to end rumors of breast augmentation. While many celebrities had faced rumors of breast surgery, this was the first time someone voluntarily took such a step to prove otherwise.
Lee Ji-hye's special single album '#+1' title track 'Love Me Love Me' showcased a lingerie look on Mnet's M! Countdown on the 20th, after which internet users rapidly spread the breast augmentation rumors.
Later, in an interview with OSEN, she dismissed the rumors, saying, "When I worked at the shop I was so sensitive I would react even to a single eyeliner, but now my personality has softened a lot and I try not to get stressed, so I naturally gained weight," and adding, "As many people know, I have had facial surgery before, but I absolutely never had breast surgery."
But as the breast augmentation controversy grew hotter, her agency took the extreme step of having her stand in front of cameras in a bikini to prove she had not had breast surgery.
In the early morning at the Tower Hotel pool before many gathered reporters, Lee Ji-hye began cautiously, saying, "It's an era when frank and honest entertainers are loved," and playfully asked the photojournalists, "Instead, please take flattering pictures."
She added, "After the first broadcast, many people, including my father and the agency president, asked if I had surgery, so we held this to end the rumors," and said shyly, "Ask Baek Ji-young unni or Cool's Yulhee unni — we go to saunas and jjimjilbangs often (laughs)."
She also said, "I debuted in my late teens and have been active for nearly 10 years, and I think this concept fits my age best now," proudly stating it.
But Lee Ji-hye hoped people would pay more attention to her album than her body, saying, "Now I want to be loved for my songs only," and vowed, "I will work hard to show a changed side. Sweat is sincere, so I believe the reward will come."
[Photo] OSEN DB, broadcast capture
[OSEN]