BTS singer Jungkook is “deeply regretful” for breaking social distancing guidelines amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 22-year-old star visited a restaurant and bar with friends in Itaewon, Seoul, South Korea on 25 April and his management company issued an apology on his behalf for not adhering to the guidelines, after it was revealed that there was an outbreak in the area the following week.
Although he had no symptoms, Jungkook voluntarily took a test and results revealed he did not contract the coronavirus.
Big Hit Entertainment, quoted by entertainment site Allkpop, said in a statement: “This is our statement on Jungkook visiting Itaewon.
“It is true that Jungkook visited Itaewon. He did not go to the problematic place where the patient in early May had the confirmed case, and he went about a week beforehand. He followed the government regulations and voluntarily got checked for Corona-19, and we decided that it was not our place to interfere in his personal life.
“However, we have no excuse that we placed the artist’s personal life before we were able to emphasise the importance of social distancing. We bow our head in apology.
“Jungkook visited the restaurant and bar with his friends on the night of April 25th. Afterward, he did not have a cough or a fever, and his results came out negative. He is also deeply regretting on how he did not follow social distancing measures seriously.
“Big Hit Entertainment is currently doing our best to follow Corona-19 prevention measures such as social distancing. We will work harder to make sure this does not happen again. We apologise for worrying many people, including fans.”
Jungkook’s outing saw him meet up with fellow K-Pop stars including NCT 127’s Jaehyun, SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu and Cha Eunwoo from ASTRO, all of whom have also had apologies posted on their behalf by their respective entertainment companies.