U-Know Yunho suspends plan to appear in Mnet's 'Kingdom' after violating distancing rules
TVXQ's U-Know Yunho / Courtesy of JTBC
By Dong Sun-hwa
U-Know Yunho, a member of K-pop duo TVXQ, has suspended his plan to appear in Mnet's show “Kingdom: Legendary War” after being caught violating social distancing rules at an escort bar in Seoul last month.
“Yunho's agency SM Entertainment told us he would not participate in filming Kingdom until the results of the police investigation come out,” the cable channel said in a statement Wednesday. “Hence, TVXQ's Max Changmin will be the only MC for our program for now.”
Mnet, which began shooting the show on Feb. 23, added it would edit the parts featuring Yunho.
On March 9, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced the K-pop star had been questioned for allegedly violating the government's social distancing measures designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Later, MBC, a local broadcaster, reported that he was drinking at an “unregistered escort bar” with his friends in southern Seoul in February until late ― violating the 10 p.m. rule.
Following the controversy, SM apologized on his behalf and denied the media report that he was having drinks with hostesses there. It said, “Yunho made his first visit to the bar after his friend called him to get some advice. The singer spent time with his friends only.”
Yunho was initially set to appear as an MC for “Kingdom” with his bandmate Changmin. “Kingdom,” which will premiere April 1, is the sequel to “Road to Kingdom” (2020), a competition show for K-pop boy bands. The upcoming program is also the male version of “Queendom” (2019), in which several K-pop girl groups including MAMAMOO and (G)I-DLE went head to head. “Kingdom” will feature BTOB, iKON, SF9, The Boyz, Stray Kids and ATEEZ.
Yunho debuted as a TVXQ member in 2003 and dropped his first solo album “True Colors” in 2019. His second solo release “NOIR” came out in January.