On February 17 KST, media outlet ‘Dispatch’ claimed that it had obtained a copy of the voice analysis report written by the Korea Forensic Service, which analyzed the recording of a recent fan call between ZEROBASEONE member Kim Ji Woong and a fan.
Previously, controversy brewed as a fan who held a fan call with the ZEROBASEONE member accused the idol of swearing immediately after ending their call, when he thought that the call had cut off.
In response, ZEROBASEONE’s label Wake One Entertainment firmly denied the accusations and stated, “We intend on checking the validity of these accusations through digital media forensic analysis. We will uncover the truth.”
First, the analyst checked the pronunciation of words used by all speakers in two different videos – the video uploaded by the fan, approximately 3 minutes long, and CCTV footage from the Wake One Entertainment building.
Deciphering the formants (the broad spectral maximum that results from an acoustic resonance of the human vocal tract) detected by the speakers in the two videos, the analyst confirmed that three phrases could be heard in order: 1) “Thank you” 2) “Ssibal (f**k)” 3) “(either) Strange or suspicious”.
Next, the analyst detected no abnormalities in the sound frequency from phrase 1, to phrase 2, to phrase 3. The analyst concluded that all of the sounds heard were recorded in succession, without any clipping and editing.
However, the analyst discovered a difference in the wave patterns between phrase 1 and phrase 2. Based on this difference, the analyst came to two conclusions.
The first conclusion was that some form of editing was used to accentuate the pronunciation of phrase 2 and phrase 3, as the pronunciation of these two phrases was comparably clearer than phrase 1. The second conclusion was that based on the difference in wave patterns, phrase 2 was not spoken by the same individual who spoke phrase 1. Phrase 3 was also spoken by the same individual who spoke phrase 1, but it is difficult to tell if the speaker of phrase 2 and phrase 3 are the same or different.
Finally, a staff member ‘D’, who was present during the fan call and listened in on Kim Ji Woong’s calls the entire time, told ‘Dispatch’, “I do not remember the fan call between Kim Ji Woong and the fan exactly. But I am certain that Kim Ji Woong did not utter any curse words.”
[UPDATE]
On February 17 KST, Wake One Entertainment also released an official statement shortly after the publication of the ‘Dispatch’ article above, confirming that the forensic analysis request was made by the label through its legal representative (Law Firm Sejong). Wake One Entertainment reiterated the contents of the report summarized by ‘Dispatch’ and assured that it will continue to do all it can to protect its artists.
