Hongki Lee of the band FT Island posted and then deleted a post expressing his feelings regarding the allegations of member Minhwan Choi's prostitution.
On the 26th, Lee Hongki's emotional post on the fan community Weverse was deleted.
Earlier, on the 25th, Lee Hongki posted, “It was their private life and it ended up like this. They should admit their mistakes and bow their heads and apologize. But none of us should trust everything so easily.” He added, “I have to protect myself again. I have to hold on. That’s us. All I can do is move forward while getting hit by rocks.”
Although Hongki Lee did not directly use Minhwan Choi's name, there was speculation that it was about Minhwan Choi's feelings toward his ex-wife Yulhee's revelations, as it included the content of 'their private lives'. This led to a flood of criticism directed at Hongki Lee. There were also opinions that the post, "You shouldn't believe everything so easily" was defending Minhwan Choi.
It is unclear whether Lee Hongki's 'private life' refers to Choi Minhwan and Yulhee, or Choi Minhwan and former member Choi Jonghoon.
Phrases such as "I have to protect and persevere" and "That's us" are interpreted as meaning that they will make sure that FT Island's activities are not hindered even if a member's risk arises. Choi Jong-hoon previously left the team in 2019 after being implicated in the so-called "Club Burning Sun incident" with Jung Joon-young. Guitarist Song Seung-hyun also left the team that year when his contract ended.
As the controversy grew, Hongki Lee eventually deleted the post.
Meanwhile, Choi Min-hwan and Yulhee got married in January 2018, but announced their divorce in December of last year.
The two had one son and two daughters. Choi Min-hwan has custody of the three children. Meanwhile, Yulhee revealed the reason for her divorce from Choi Min-hwan through her YouTube channel 'Yulhee's House' on the 24th.
Yulhee caused a stir by revealing that Choi Min-hwan visited a prostitution establishment and said, “He touched my private parts in front of my family and put money in my pajamas (chest). At that age, would I have ever been to a establishment? Would I have known about drinking culture? As I found out later, it was a drinking habit.” She also revealed a recording of a phone call between Choi Min-hwan and a prostitution establishment employee.