While the entertainment industry is in trouble with the recent “drug scandals”, KBS caused controversy as they allowed a drug offender to appear on air.
The Rose (Kim Woo Sung, Park Do Joon, Lee Jae Hyeong, Lee Ha Joon) appeared on KBS2’s “The Seasons: Jay Park’s Drive”, which aired on April 16th.
After a long hiatus due to disputes with their agency and military service, The Rose appeared on TV for the first time in a long time, drawing attention from music fans. However, industry insiders’ perspective on it was ambiguous.
This is because KBS and Jay Park chose Kim Woo Sung (30) at a time when the entertainment industry was noisy due to drug-related issues such as composer-broadcaster Don Spike and actor Yoo Ah In.
Kim Woo Sung, the leader and lead vocalist of The Rose, is a singer with a history of marijuana. In 2016, when he was under Polaris Entertainment, he was caught violating the Narcotics Control Act (marijuana) and investigated by the prosecution.
At that time, he admitted to smoking marijuana, but was suspended from indictment considering that he was a first-time offender and that he confessed to the crime.
During the investigation, it was revealed that he smoked marijuana with acquaintances several times, including Gwanak-gu, Seoul in December 2014, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul in February 2015 and Seongbuk-gu, Seoul on March 15th of the same year.
The indictment was suspended and the content was not reported, but it was not a minor issue. At that time, 11 people were caught including a singer, making the entertainment industry noisy. It was a case that everyone in the industry knew.
Nevertheless, Kim Woo Sung continued his entertainment activities without any period of self-reflection. Covering up this fact, he signed an exclusive contract with his new agency and debuted as a member of The Rose. He also showed his face on TV through JTBC’s “Super Band”.
Some industry insiders told TV Daily, “Jay Park may have invited The Rose to the show because of his friendship with Kim Woo Sung.” It is known that the two became close based on the common ground of being overseas singers working in Korea.
KBS, which always emphasizes the value of public broadcasting, cannot avoid being pointed out for choosing the cast without sufficient prior research. Regarding this, a KBS official told TV Daily, “Kim Woo Sung wasn’t listed as a restricted artist in the deliberation room, so it seems that the production team didn’t know either.“
Source: Nate
