On March 27th, reporter-turned-Youtuber Lee Jin-ho said he collected evidence proving that former T-ara member Areum’s boyfriend Seo borrowed money from her Instagram followers. The YouTuber also released some text messages and the transcript of a phone call with Seo.

In addition, Lee Jin-ho raised doubts over Areum’s decision to disclose her ex-husband’s child abuse through social media rather than proceed with legal actions.

On March 28th, Areum responded, saying “I already sued him (her ex-husband) for child abuse. I can’t believe I’m seeing such things after regaining consciousness. I’ll sue you for spreading false information.”

Lee Jin-ho pinned Areum’s comment to the top and commented, “You can sue me. However, your claim that it’s false doesn’t seem to be true”, adding “I already reviewed and checked related materials, and this part was directly confirmed by your boyfriend. In particular, your boyfriend said Areum would be punished if I did anything wrong. I’m worried if you are okay with this”. He also advised Areum, saying “Regarding the child issues, I think reporting the case rather than filing a complaint, actions would be taken faster”.

After that, Areum replied, saying, “Regarding my boyfriend, it’s true that he helped me and I used his bank account but he did not do anything wrong. Don’t talk about fraud or spread things like that”, adding “I didn’t do anything wrong either. Please contact me if you find any. Why are you only tapping on the keyboard? As for other matters, I’ll proceed with legal actions against the people related to that strange group chat for defamation, invasion of privacy, infringement of rights, and use of abusive language.”

The female singer continued, “Money? Have you ever talked to me? Aren’t you just playing around and trying to annoy me? I can’t just sit still and watch you do it”, adding “You told me to sue you, so I’ll do it. You really have the talent of making people look weird. Do you like making money in this way as a YouTuber? I think you’re doing this because you think I’m easily targeted. Just wait and see”.

Lastly, she said, “I will also deal with all the malicious comments legally, so continue to keep an eye on me. If I ever make an extreme choice again, it can be either because of the haters, those who bully me, or Lee Jin-ho”, adding “From now on, I’ll handle all those malicious commenters. Be quiet if you don’t know the exact details. If you’re curious, contact me separately instead of leaving malicious comments.”