Sunggyu on the chopping block for his opinion on 30+ year women

[frantastic.livejournal.com]

INFINITE's Sunggyu is receiving quite a backlash after his unfortunate choice of words revealed through a BTS video of tvN's 'Genius: Rules of the Game'.

In the video clip that was uploaded on the 26th, Park Eun Ji, Lee Sang Min, and Sunggyu were seen discussing amongst themselves during the game.

In the video, Park Eun Ji told Lee Sang Min, "Isn't it difficult to make a living? Now that I've lived for 30 years, I'm realizing it is really not easy." Lee Sang Min replied, "Yeah true.. When a woman reaches the age of 30...", Sunggyu jumped in to complete his sentence, "You're right. She's a yomul."

'Yomul' is a term that means deceitful, sly, wicked on its own, and when it's aimed towards women, it is a term that describes a woman who is good at luring in men for her benefit.

Woollim Entertaiment quickly responded, "It seems things have blown out of proportion. If you watch the video, Sunggyu didn't have bad intentions. He just said it at the time just going along with the atmosphere of the conversation. It was released in an exaggerated form."

'The Genius: Rules of the Game' have since made the video private after the controversy arose.

Source + image(s): Sports Chosun via Nate + akp


1. [+1,061, -80] Watch your mouth, it'll end your career overnight.

2. [+926, -75] Your career won't last long if you're stupid, Sunggyu

3. [+893, -70] Do you think you only have teens for fans?? tsk tsk tsk put a filter on that mouth

4. [+151, -22] INFINITE as a group just seems... so empty headed. They've all got the celebrity disease and think they're hot sh*t. I remember on another show, they were asked to the gwiyomi player and they were like, "Ah, we're not that low level to be doing things like that anymore" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hilarious

5. [+109, -27] What nugu is saying such crazy things, this is daebak ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

6. [+107, -11] How low has his opinion of 30 year old women been all this while for him to say this so nonchalantly? ㅡㅡ Does he not care at all for the 30+ year old fans he might have?

7. [+87, -11] I used to think he was a decent, nice kid... but this is really severe, how could he say this on broadcast? Unless he's not in the right state of mind?

8. [+77, -8] He must think he's worth something because ugly little girls are always praising him saying he's handsome and that he sings well.

9. [+77, -16] The majority of idols have rocks for brains so no wonder they say things like this without knowing it's wrong

10. [+54, -6] Look at him run his mouth now that he thinks he's popular... That's a surefire way to end your career overnight ㅜㅜ He seemed a bit cocky on other shows too ㅜㅜ


src: NetizenBuzz


INFINITE's Sunggyu has apologized for his statement about women in their 30s.

He tweeted, "Hello. This is Sunggyu. The situation is not a controversy or misunderstanding. It's completely my fault. I sincerely apologize to anyone who has been disappointed or hurt by my careless words. I'll reflect [on my words] with a humble heart, realize [what I've done], and be more respectful towards people."

The apology came about after a behind-the-scenes clip of 'Genius: Rules of the Game' was released. During a conversation with Park Eun Ji and Lee Sang Min, Sunggyu made a comment about women becoming 'yomul' after she reaches the age of 30. 'Yomul' is a term that means deceitful, sly, or wicked, and when it's aimed towards women, it's a term that describes a woman who is good at luring in men for her benefit.

What do you think about the situation?



src: akp + @kyuzizi

Comments

[evivante.livejournal.com]

I'm not too familiar with the implication of the word but if it's bad as how the netizens and news are making it out to be, then sucks for Sunggyu. His apology is good though.

[nicole8991.livejournal.com]

At least he knows how to apologize.

[lemon-glass.livejournal.com]

i saw this coming from a mile away e_e

ugh i was afraid he would say something stupid and sexist like this since he joined high society and became friends with shitdung. hopefully he understands what he did wrong and learns from this. i don't hate him, but i'm about one more stupid remark away from dropping stanning him completely.

[digitalqueen.livejournal.com]

But he's always been like that, meeting Shingdong has nothing to do with it.

[allthingsgood.livejournal.com]

I'm glad his apology was an actual apology and not one of those BS "I'm sorry if you're offended, bye!" apologies.

With that said, though, I loved reading the comments from English-speaking fans on NB, just to see the extent of the "oppa didn't mean it" excuses. So many of those "This is just his sense of humor! He's naturally sarcastic and cynical! It's why I like him!" (And I look forward to reading them on this post too!)

[pepper.livejournal.com]

[pepper.livejournal.com]

Well, his apology seems quite sincere to me. Hopefully, he'll learn from this and won't keep saying stupid shit in the future.

[hurtmybones.livejournal.com]

petition for shitfinite to disband

[kapuway.livejournal.com]

denied

[hitsujiga.livejournal.com]

he's right tho..we old hags have no other options anymore than to lure in filthy rich guys....

8/ shut yo trap u inexperienced little shit barely having grown pubes on ur balls.

[tothechangmin.livejournal.com]

i don't get how using that term was ~going along with the atmosphere of the conversation~. at least he apologised, i guess.

[chikage-chan.livejournal.com]

He did wrong, he realized it and apologized in a proper manner. He's forgiven to me, as long as he doesnt pull another one of these in the future.

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

basically

[goldynchickie.livejournal.com]

At least, he owned up to it.

[queenhinata.livejournal.com]

I'm glad Gyu apologized :x but he rly needs to be more careful sigh

[love-keiko.livejournal.com]

WOW. that was a really sincere apology taking the blame 100% is something u dont normally see...

that being said---oppa i am VERY disappointed.

[aleexnews.livejournal.com]

he's always saying dumb things when he doesnt know what to say or to try and be funny and usually they're sarcastic and funny but this one was uncalled for. i am glad he apologized though, and took responsibility for it on his own instead of trying to let it slide or giving those shitty apologies companies always release for their idols. he knows what he did wrong and hopefully he learned from it.

[e-bone (from livejournal.com)]

Real justice would entail him falling for some fly ass 30 y/o noona and then getting rejected :D

[tieuthantien.livejournal.com]

lol ... I'd love to see this happened ... even if I love Sunggyu really ..

[gigabytexx.livejournal.com]

Sunggyu I thought you're the one who said to your members "Always think many times before you speak something." and Infinite has done almost zero controversy because the members have never said anything too much. Even at their twitters.

Never thought you're the first member who ruined it :x

[in-noctem.livejournal.com]

Dongwoo's my only hope ;;

But I'm glad he owned up to this and didn't play it off as a misunderstanding.

[pentrue.livejournal.com]

Dongwoo loves everyone and everything, he remains forever flawless.

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

Lol how many 30 year olds do you know. Run for the hills men, women above 30 are gonna lure you.

The apology seems sincere enough I guess.

[digitalqueen.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, it was only a matter of time for Sunggyu to get in trouble for the things he says/thinks. His sexism has always bothered me, so its great someone is finally calling him out on it now.

I'm glad he apologize, and I hope he did learn from it, instead of just wanting to make things right. Woollim's apologize is a piece of crap tho.

[morningtsuji.livejournal.com]

wait what other sexist stuff has he done

[age-ofconsent.livejournal.com]

he's so dumb, no surprise.
at least the apology is nice and he doesn't go around excusing himself.

[love-etcetera.livejournal.com]

lol screw u & bye little boy

[almightykuzon.livejournal.com]

I'm not disappointed in his words, but more like the way he interrupted the other guy and said that.

[gypsy-sonata.livejournal.com]

i'm glad that this article explained what he said. I'd read another one that left me confused as to what he meant.

so what he's saying is women in their 30's are gold diggers.

[cassie-cloud9.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Oh Sunggyu... boy really needs to learn how to filter his thoughts and think shit through before he talks sometimes smh. I'm glad he took full responsibility and apologized. Hopefully he learns from this and is more careful in the future.

[shiz-lestat.livejournal.com]

Is there any Korean speaker that can explain if the term has a really negative connotation besides its meaning? Because I don't find it offensive or insulting in the context of the show (if you've watched The Genius you'll understand).

I don't deny the sexists things he's said in the past and I'm not pulling an "oppa didn't mean it", I'd like to really understand the meaning of the word for Korean speakers.

[frantastic.livejournal.com]

From a comment in NB (http://netizenbuzz.blogspot.com/2013/06/sunggyu-on-chopping-block-for-his.html#comment-943865888):

I am not sure about your culture and language, but I assume there is a language barrier. As an Asian I know that this is no day joke and the choice of words are very, very poor. It as if I made a joke about homosexuals and chose to use the word 'fag' for example, which is deeply offensive. "Yomul" is certainly never used as a joke, more as an insult. It is even more pronounced in Sunggyu's case. Also there is nothing to do with being younger or older, since I wouldn't call my peer a fag too- it is a plain insult.

Just a point for you. Imagine if I did not know English at all, and dismiss a prominent Western celebrity calling another person a "fag" as just being a day joke and that the outrage is a sign of intolerance to the celebrity without understanding the cultural connotations of the language. How would you feel?

Already in Korea's entertainment industry and all over the world to some extent, age is a sensitive topic for many females as well. I am sure there are more tasteful ways to put his point across that does not offend or hurt the viewers.

[shineebambi.livejournal.com]

do people actually expect sunggyu to respect women??????????

[digitalqueen.livejournal.com]

No.