It's been belatedly revealed that Girls' Generation's Hyoyeon was reported for assault. On April 1, media reported that an unidentified Girls' Generation member 'A' had been reported to police by her male friend for hitting him, and SM Entertainment later confirmed it was Hyoyeon through an official response.
According to reports, Hyoyeon and a male friend were joking around when she accidentally hit him in the face. Seoul's Yongsan District Police Department stated that the Girls' Generation member and male friend 'B' were at a mutual friend's home located in the Yongsan District in Seoul at 12:30AM on March 30 KST when the incident occurred. While joking around, Hyoyeon knocked B's hand away, hitting his eye in the process.
At the time, Hyoyeon is reported to have said, "I'm going to fall to the first floor," and acted as if she was going to follow through when B attempted to stop her and was hit in the eye area. Angry after the fact, B immediately went to the Yongsan District Police Department where he reported her for assault. Both Hyoyeon and B were investigated on the day of the incident and the day after.
B stated at the police station, "I reported her for hitting me when we were playing around, but thinking about it, I don't think she purposefully hit me." The police also stated, "The man has no particular injury. We had to follow through because it was reported, but it was just a simple incident. It looks like it will be concluded as 'no wrongdoing' or 'no right to indict'."
Girls' Generation's agency SM Entertainment came forward with an official response as well: "Member Hyoyeon was with her acquaintances when she was joking around and hit a friend when their joking around went too far, and a misunderstanding arose. This situation came about when the incident was reported to the police station. She and the other party immediately resolved their misunderstanding and the incident has been concluded as a simple 'happening'. They were told not to play around too harshly by the police, and she will be careful not to do anything that will cause misunderstanding in the future."
Korean media outlets have denied that this is an April Fools' stunt.
