The Dark Side Of K-Pop: Han Seo-Hee, The Former Trainee Who Is Every K-pop Star’s Worst Nightmare
Over the last few years, numerous South Korean celebs have been involved in controversies with the same person: Han Seo-hee. The former K-pop trainee has become synonymous with scandals in the Hallyu world. However, that wasn’t always the case.
During her trainee days, Han Seo-hee had a very promising future. She had been accepted by multiple labels, namely, JYP Entertainment, YG Entertainment, Pledis, Source Music and Jellyfish Entertainment. However, every time Seo-hee was slated to make her debut, the plans would fall through. After training for six years and failing to debut with GFRIEND and gugudan, she started to get frustrated.
Not much later, her reputation took a major hit. She went from a star trainee to the name that everyone wanted to avoid in the Korean entertainment. This was because whoever was associated with her would instantly be caught up in a legal soup and lose their career. From iKON‘s former leader B.I to ex-MONSTA X member Wonho, numerous celebs were affected due to her claims, manipulation and more.
BIGBANG‘s T.O.P
The first time Han Seo-hee’s name came to the spotlight was in 2017. Former BIGBANG member T.O.P had been accused of smoking weed, which he first denied and later admitted. During the investigation, a woman claimed that she had smoked weed with the iconic singer at his house. This woman was none other than Han Seo-hee, who was a YG Entertainment trainee and T.O.P’s girlfriend at the time. Due to the revelations made by Han Seo-hee, the former BIGBANG member attempted to take his life. While T.O.P recovered after being hospitalized in critical condition, he swore he would not promote in Korea again.
iKON’s B.I and YG Entertainment founder Yang Hyun-suk
Confessions made during the T.O.P case lead to an investigation into iKON’s leader B.I in 2019. Han Seo-hee admitted that she had delivered drugs to the iKON member, after their private chats surfaced online. The ex trainee also claimed that YG Entertainment’s founder Yang Hyun-suk had forced her to change statements in 2016 so as to not implicate the rapper. B.I. left iKON and embarked on a solo career due to the scandal.
Meanwhile, Yang Hyun-suk, who resigned from his position at YG Entertainment during the B.I scandal, was investigated over the alleged threats he had made to Han Seo-hee back in 2016. While he had initially been acquitted in November 2023, this was vacated and the former CEO was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
MONSTA X‘s Wonho and Shownu
While entangled in the case involving B.I and Yang Hyun-suk, Han Seo-hee showed support for her then-partner Jung Da-eun, after she accused MONSTA X’s Wonho of theft and drug use. Da-eun also claimed the singer owed her 30 million won and would avoid her whenever she tried to contact. While Han Seo-hee kept on pushing the claims, Wonho was cleared of all charges. However, he ended up leaving MONSTA X.
During the same period, Seo-hee revealed that Da-eun had received an email accusing MONSTA X’s leader Shownu of pursuing a married woman. The group’s label Starship Entertainment clarified the claims, saying that Shownu had contacted the woman before her marriage and did not find out until much later that the woman had tied the knot.
Yoo Ah-in and Kang Hyuk-min
Going back to 2017, Han Seo-hee was involved in a massive argument with actor Yoo Ah-in, who had made some rather misogynistic remarks. When ulzzang Kang Hyuk-min showed Ah-in support and dubbed Seo-hee as “someone with pain in their heart,” the ex-trainee called him a potential rapist. Kang Hyuk-min was attacked over Han Seo-hee’s ‘rapist’ claims, however, they were quickly debunked by the police.
Ahn Hyo-seop
Prior to RIIZE’s Wonbin, Han Seo-hee was involved in a scandal with Business Proposal star Ahn Hyo-seop. In January 2024, the former trainee seemingly leaked messages between her and the actor. However, after the screenshots went viral, Seo-hee stated that the chats had been fabricated. Despite her explanation, Ahn Hyo-seop filed a lawsuit against Han Seo-hee for defamation and slander, among other things.
It’s no surprise that Han Seo-hee has been targeting idols considering, as she said, she “loves the attention.” However, this has turned her into the nightmare of every Hallyu star.
