Ok Joo-hyun clarifies auto-tune remarks, tells Kim Ho-young to respond publicly

Ok Joo-hyun took to Bubble on July 17 to address the fallout from her recent remarks — and to put Kim Ho-young on notice.

Her original comments were aimed at the musical industry, she said. "All of it was about musicals," she wrote, "but I was surprised that sparks flew to my junior singer colleagues." On auto-tune specifically, she was direct: "For singers, tuning can be a device for performance. I'm not saying don't use tuning. Everyone uses it and I use it too."

Where she drew the line was musical theatre. Lip-syncing in a stage production — outside of officially disclosed cases like The Phantom of the Opera — "should not exist," she said. "This is fraud and audience deception." Actors who lip-sync even partially, while other cast members withdraw sick rather than perform below standard, "should carry guilt about for life."

She also walked back one phrase. The expression gaena sona (roughly "any old person") "was too extreme," she acknowledged. She wanted to speak to the darker side of the musical industry but would stop using harsh language going forward.

The sharpest part of her statement was directed at Kim Ho-young. Ok Joo-hyun said she is waiting for him to either prove that a friend co-purchased the okjangpan item in question, or to make a direct public statement. "It is time to do something with mouth and hands," she wrote. She also cited harm done to a junior who passed an audition and joined a 10th-anniversary production, and to the production company behind it. The accumulated "karma is too deep to just pass by."

Kim Ho-young has not issued any response to her repeated public requests for clarification.