Minty Gal

If you are a K-pop fan, you’ve most likely heard of the shocking situation regarding one of the members of one of the most popular boy bands, NCT 127. Taeil, one of the group’s main singers, has been swept up in a scandal that doesn’t look good. Investigators haven’t revealed many details regarding the case, other than they are serious and of a sexual nature. In the K-pop world, it is not uncommon for allegations and issues to form out of thin air, as the K-pop fanbase and netizens tend to forget that idols are real people. However, anything involving sexual assault will not be tolerated, especially when the fan base consists mostly of women.

What makes this situation even more odd is how quickly SM dropped him from the group. There is no public hiatus announcement, no public support offered by the label, and his bandmates promptly cut ties with him, going as far as deleting group photos with him in them. This adds fuel to the serious nature considering these are decade-long friendships. NCT 127 released their 6th full-length album ‘Walk’ on July 15th, so, understandably, the label doesn’t want his legal issues and bad press to affect the group’s success regarding the album. Jaehyun also released his first solo full-length album “J” on August 26th of this year so the timing couldn’t be any worse. As fans, we have heard some of the most outrageous rumors, allegations, and stories linked to our favorite idols, so I want to stress that although it doesn’t look good these are still allegations and that he is innocent until proven guilty. As fans, we need to stop putting these idols on a pedestal because they look perfect on TV. No matter how perfect someone looks on the outside, how media-trained they are, and how talented they may be, we still don’t know these individuals. We will just have to wait and see what comes out regarding this issue.