BoA and agency to take legal action against online haters

Singer and actor BoA [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

Singer and actor BoA and her agency SM Entertainment are taking action against rumors, false information and defamation after negative comments recently appeared online.

“The agency is currently in the process of taking a series of legal actions in Korea and abroad with the help of law firm Shin & Kim [and other external legal firms],” SM Entertainment said in a press release Thursday.

It said that “false information, defamation and rumors are constantly being spread on social media, online communities and video platforms.”

BoA received negative comments after starring in the recent tvN drama “Marry My Husband,” which aired from Jan. 1 to Feb. 20 this year. She was criticized for her appearance, particularly her lips, and her acting skills.

“Marry My Husband” was BoA’s first drama in eight years.

“I can now retire after my [current] contracts are over, right?” BoA said in an Instagram story on April 6, adding that she would “try [her] best as singer BoA until the contract expires in December 2025.”

She also expressed her thoughts on the matter many times in recent months, including in an interview with cable network Channel A where she asked people to “respect idols as human beings.”

She added that “many use celebrities as a way to vent their anger.”

“Such actions have reached a stage where one cannot endure as a human being, and this resulted in the artist suffering through a tough time with immense psychological pain, said her agency in a press release.

“We will have the wrongdoers punished by law without pardons or arrangements.”

BoA debuted in 2000 at the age of 13 under SM Entertainment, with “ID: PEACE B.”

She garnered considerable popularity around Asia, especially in Japan, stepping into the overseas music scene at a young age.

BoA has released hit songs, such as “No. 1” (2002), “Valenti” (2002), “Hurricane Venus” (2010) and “Only One” (2012). She is currently working as the producer of NCT Wish, SM Entertainment’s latest boy band, and dropped her single, “Emptiness,” in March.

Her first major role in a TV drama was in “Looking Forward to Romance” in 2013.

To find out more about BoA, visit Celeb Confirmed.

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]