Kim Ho-joong, who deceived fans, hid behind his agency and made no apology.

Suspicions related to singer Kim Ho-jung (32)'s alleged hit-and-run are growing rapidly. Among them, it has been confirmed that Kim Ho-joong gave fans a shameless greeting saying, "Return home safely" after the accident, causing even greater shock.

Kim Ho-jung held the 'Tvarotti Classic Arena Tour 2024 - Goyang' concert at the Goyang Sports Complex Gymnasium for two days on the 11th and 12th. After finishing the performance on the 12th, Kim Ho-joong said through the fan cafe at 8:30 pm, "It was a time overflowing with love and beauty. This happiness together is so big and precious," and urged fans to "enjoy the rest of the weekend and return home safely." .

At the time, it seemed like he was sending a kind message to his fans, but considering that Kim Ho-jung's hit-and-run incident occurred on the 9th, this comment was close to deceiving the fans. In fact, he committed the crime of crashing into an intact taxi that was waiting at a signal and then fleeing, and said he would "return home safely."

On the 16th, Kim Ho-jung's cousin and CEO of Saeng Saeng Entertainment, Lee Gwang-deuk, claimed, "Kim Ho-jung never drank and was unable to handle the accident due to severe panic." At the same time, he blamed himself and his manager for the fault of this incident. Mr. Lee said, "On the 9th, Kim Ho-joong visited an entertainment bar to say hello to the people who were drinking with his relative and agency representative Lee Gwang-deuk. At the time, Kim Ho-joong was about to go to a concert in Goyang, so he never drank." He went home first, and after returning home, he drove his own car for personal reasons and while on the road, the accident occurred due to poor driving. He was very panicked at the time of the accident and appears to have made a wrong decision."

At the same time, "another manager who arrived at the scene first removed the memory card first due to his own judgment, and I, as the representative of the agency, asked the manager who was known to have surrendered to take Kim Ho-joong's clothes and change them to handle the matter on his behalf." “All of this happened when I, as Kim Ho-jung’s representative and older brother, tried to overprotect Kim Ho-jung,” he added. “Kim Ho-jung never drank and was unable to handle the accident due to severe panic.” He added, “The vehicle’s black box was determined by the manager. "I removed the memory card first, and then I took Kim Ho-jung's clothes, changed them, and asked him to embroider for me," he claimed again.

This claim is nonsensical and difficult to understand. The background is that this incident is not simply a traffic accident caused by Kim Ho-jung's poor driving skills, but something that needs to be covered up. First, Manager Kim Ho-joong removed the black box memory card, which was the most important evidence in this case, changed into Kim Ho-joong's clothes, attended the police station, and confessed on his behalf, lying that he had driven the car.

The public is even more outraged by Mr. Lee's explanation and reacts by calling it "an additional scandalous crime." This is because Kim Ho-joong's agency representative and manager are claiming that they covered up Kim Ho-joong's crime of their own volition, and Kim Ho-joong is actually hiding behind it and not even making an apology.

Meanwhile, Kim Ho-jung crossed the center line on a road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul at around 11:40 pm on the 9th and ran away after colliding with a taxi on the opposite side. At 1:59 a.m. on the 10th, two hours after the accident, Kim Ho-jung's manager went to the police station and turned himself in, saying he was the driver, but it was quickly revealed that this was not true. At the same time, suspicions such as Kim Ho-jung's driver switching theory and drunk driving theory grew like a snowball.

In particular, Kim Ho-jung showed actions filled with lies and unreasonable explanations during the post-accident handling process. Kim Ho-joong aroused public outrage by announcing that he would continue with the scheduled concert, rather than self-reflect in this situation. Even in a situation where suspicions have snowballed due to the agency's cover-up, it can be read as an intention to proceed with the concert as scheduled and avoid any economic damage.

On the 14th, the agency said through Kim Ho-jung's fan cafe 'Tvarotti', "We plan to proceed with 'Tvarotti Classic Arena Tour 2024' Changwon/Gimcheon and 'World Union Orchestra Super Classic' without any changes to the schedule." “We will do our best to protect our artists, and we promise to protect them no matter what,” they stated shamelessly.

Kim Ho-joong, who told his fans to “come home safely,” did not say a word of apology regarding this.

Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr