BTS member Jungkook has admitted to visiting Itaewon and apologized.

On the 18th, BigHit Entertainment stated, "Jungkook visited an eatery and bar in Itaewon with acquaintances on the evening of April 25th. He did not experience symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever after his visit, and voluntarily underwent testing at a clinic, where he tested negative."

The statement continued, "The artist himself is deeply reflecting on not having faithfully participated in the nationwide effort to practice social distancing."

Previously, a media outlet reported, "From the evening of the 25th to the early morning of the 26th, BTS's Jungkook, ASTRO's Eunwoo, NCT's Jaehyun, and SEVENTEEN's Mingyu visited an eatery in Itaewon and two entertainment facilities."

■ The following is the official statement from BigHit Entertainment

Hello.

This is BigHit Entertainment.

First, we apologize for the issues with our response to the numerous media inquiries regarding Jungkook's visit to Itaewon.

It is true that Jungkook visited Itaewon. However, at the time of his visit, he did not go to the locations visited by confirmed cases in early May, and it was one week before the date the first confirmed case visited Itaewon.

Furthermore, we determined that it was not appropriate to disclose the artist's personal daily life, as he took measures such as voluntarily getting tested for COVID-19 in accordance with government guidelines.

However, this decision is inexcusable, as it shows we did not clearly recognize the gravity of social distancing as the artist's agency and prioritized the protection of the artist's private life. We apologize.

Jungkook visited an eatery and bar in Itaewon with acquaintances on Saturday, April 25th. He did not experience symptoms of COVID-19 such as a cough or fever after his visit, and voluntarily underwent testing at a clinic, where he tested negative.

The artist himself is currently deeply reflecting on not having faithfully participated in the nationwide effort to practice social distancing.

BigHit is doing its best to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and preventive measures, including social distancing in daily life.

We will ensure more thorough compliance to prevent such issues from occurring again.

We apologize to our fans and everyone else for causing concern.

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.