Wonho gets to finally speak up about his side of the story with the press!
On March 16, Dispatch released an exclusive interview with Wonho. The interview was done in February while he was still undergoing investigation for his alleged marijuana use in 2013. Since then, Starship Entertainment released a full statement announcing that he was cleared of charges, the investigation had concluded.
Fans celebrated the happy news, and Starship vague statement about Wonho’s future activities left room for optimism. Many fans wish for Wonho to return back to MONSTA X.
In his interview with Dispatch, Wonho repeats that he didn’t smoke marijuana and asks Dispatch to tell his story when his innocence is proven, he apologized and stated he’d like to clear misunderstandings and ask for forgiveness.
Wonho opened up about his difficult childhood explaining he was bullied by other kids for being poor, his family fought all the time about money and he wanted to escape it. He got to befriend an older male in his neighborhood and started hanging out with him.
He explains that the bullying stopped and he preferred his classmates to be uncomfortable with him rather than bullying him. As his situation at home worsened, he got into trouble with the law after hanging out with a bad crowd. He tells dispatch he doesn’t want to blame anyone else or give excuses, he says,
“I was immature. It was my fault. I was in the wrong. I’m sorry.”
He also briefly touches on his relationship with Jung Da Eun saying he met and became close friends with her quickly. She helped him out and supported his dreams of becoming a singer. He didn’t address much aside from that.
He also talked about a changing point in his life, he says he saw the kids practice hard to become idols and for once he was embarrassed,
“I’ve only lived my life resenting everything. That’s when I promised myself to not waste my life anymore.”
About the allegations that surfaced in 2019, he says he was at fault but a lot of misunderstandings were present as well. He says,
“I was at fault. Of course, you can’t turn back time. Not everyone who grows up in an environment like mine ends up at the wrong path. When I was on probation, I reflected a lot.”
He admits to his wrongdoings but again strongly denied he ever abused drugs.
Wonho finally opens up about his decision to leave MONSTA X in October 2019. He says he thought MONSTA X would fall hard because of him and he wanted his members to survive, thus, he decided to leave to minimize the damages.
Wonho also says he thought leaving the group would be the least painful option for fans,
“I am sorry I had to leave like this. I have lived with only them in my mind.”
He says in the past he’s lived as Lee Ho Seok and in the present he lives as Wonho, but Wonho still has responsibility for what Lee Ho Seok had done. He says he tried to minimize the pain and be responsible.
He also showed love for Monbebes, the fandom has gone above and beyond to show their support for Wonho for the past months. He says,
“After meeting Monbebe, I completely changed. I finally learned what it feels like to be loved. I wanted to be better every day.”
Wonho also admitted he didn’t leave his house for a while afraid of causing damage, he says he couldn’t forget his fans and is full of regrets,
“I still can’t forget our fans. I am full of regret. Feeling that I should’ve done better for them? I just want to say I am sorry, this is why I am doing this interview.”
What do you think of this?
Source: (A)
My Personal Thoughts
Now the dust has settled, I wanted to share my personal opinion regarding this as an outsider who became interested in Wonho following October 2019.
First of all, I am the type of person who hates it when parents don’t do the bare minimum to raise their children properly and to look after them. It breaks my heart to hear of such stories.
I don’t know about all that happened with Wonho and his family, but from what he said it seems he had a difficult upbringing and as much as he likes to blame himself, I disagree with that and think it’s the parents’ job to guide their child.
I love that he’s taking responsibility but it breaks my heart that he believes it’s his fault entirely, he didn’t choose to be born into such circumstances.
He was a kid, not an adult. This also doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t punish him for his wrongdoings and of course, he has to be held responsible for his actions even as a teenager, but I think it would’ve been a lot more different if he had been born under a better environment.
Hate dispatch or love them, they did well with this interview and I am seeing lots of positive reactions from netizens. I think Starship is also testing the waters, I hope he can return. He deserves a second chance at doing this right.
If he had paid the price for his wrongdoings, I don’t see why he shouldn’t be able to be an idol. That whole notion of ‘perfect’ idols is starting to sicken me. Companies should stop trying to label these kids as ‘angels’ who make no mistakes. They’re fucking kids for Christ’s sake.
Wonho’s story is sad but it serves as an inspiration, you can still get out of a difficult environment and make a better life for yourself. I am not a fan but I am proud of him for what he’s done and how managed to transform his life around. Fighting!
What Wonho has been through in the past is the same like mine except that I don’t get bullied. Apart of that, he’s the same. I can feel him. I’m blaming myself everytime but since I started to know Kpop, I feel like this is the only interest that give me strength to fight for it if someone says bad about Kpop. We’ll wait for him