[Analysis] 2025-03-07 Chosun Biz Coverage of Injunction Court

This is an analysis and debunking of 2025-03-07 Chosun Biz Coverage of Injunction Court.

Chosun Biz, a HYBE-aligned publication, submitted Screenshot 1 (messages #1–9) and Screenshot 3 (messages #17–25), presenting them as a continuous conversation without clarifying that a significant middle section was omitted.

They also published the following summary in the editorial:

According to the KakaoTalk conversation, Hanni conveyed, "I heard the manager over there say to just ignore it as I came out of the styling room after 4 minutes," explaining the situation, while adding, “I don’t remember exactly if those were the words, but it was something like that.” Then, former representative Min asked several times, "Ignore, this?", “Did everyone ignore you?” “Did all Ailet members ignore you?” “Did your manager tell you not to greet them?” to which Hanni replied, "I'm not sure."

This portrayal distorts the narrative even more than what ADOR initially did. 

Incorrect basic facts

The quote used is not only inaccurate but also misrepresents several basic facts:

1. It was ILLIT and the manager who came out of the styling room, not Hanni.

   • Quote from chat log

“Those four came out of the styling room again, and I heard the door open, followed by their manager.” (Message #6)

• Fake quote from Chosun Biz

“..as I came out of the styling room…”

2. The incident happened 5–10 minutes after ILLIT entered the styling room, not 4 minutes.

   • Quote from chat log

“But then about 5–10 minutes later...?” (Message #5)

• Fake quote from Chosun Biz

“...after 4 minutes...”

3. The manager said “Just pretend you don't know her and walk past,” directly referencing Hanni — not “just ignore it,” which falsely implies something vague or impersonal.

   • Quote from chat log

“...saying, Just pretend you don't know her and walk past.” (Message #7)

• Fake quote from Chosun Biz

“...just ignore it...”

4. ILLIT’s manager instructed ILLIT members to ignore Hanni, ADOR manager did not instruct Hanni to ignore ILLIT members

   • Quote from chat log

"Was the manager telling them not to accept your greeting?"

• Fake quote from Chosun Biz

“Did your manager tell you not to greet them?”

Distortiotion of KKT chats

Beyond this basic facts, Chosun Biz’s reporting also made more sinister misrepresentation of the KKT chats: 

1. Exaggerated Hanni’s uncertainty about wording

Hanni was clear and consistent throughout the chat log in describing what occurred and how it made her feel. The only uncertainty she expressed was regarding the exact wording used by the ILLIT manager:

“I can’t remember if those were the exact words, but it was something like that.” (Message #8)

Chosun Biz highlighted this line without context to falsely imply that Hanni was unsure about the entire incident. This is a deliberate distortion. 

In reality, Hanni’s interpretation of the event is reinforced by the behaivours of both the manager and the ILLIT members:

“So when they passed by, the manager completely avoided looking at me, and one member just looked towards the manager while saying something like ‘Yes yes… I’ll just pretend I don’t know her.’” (Message #9)

Hann also reaffriemd that fact several times throughout the chat: 

“That the manager said those words…” (Message #17)
“Yes... That’s what they said as they were coming out after I heard the door open.” (Message #24)

These statements make it clear that what upset Hanni was the intentionality behind the behaviour, not confusion over what occurred.

Furthermore, the minor uncertainty she expressed was completely reasonable—especially for someone who is not a native Korean speaker. In conversational settings, it is common to paraphrase or approximate phrasing while still understanding the tone, implication, and intent behind a comment. Hanni did exactly that. Her emotional clarity and the supporting context demonstrate she fully understood what was said, even if she couldn’t recall the quote word-for-word. The Chosun Biz article’s framing of this as general uncertainty is both misleading and disingenuous.

2. Misleading framing of MHJ’s questioning

The chat log shows that Hanni and MHJ’s conversation is a natural back-and-forth exchange, where MHJ asked calm, brief clarifying questions that were directly tied to what Hanni’s responses.

Here are some examples of the questions Chosun Biz but shown within their real context: 

1. MHJ asking Hanni if the manager was targeting her greeting specificly

10. MHJ: While you were greeting them?

11. MHJ: Was the manager telling them not to accept your greeting

12. MHJ: ?

14. Hanni [Reply to “Was the manager telling them not to accept your greeting”]: I'm not sure

2. MHJ asking Hanni what part of the incident she is the most certain about.

17. Hanni [Reply to: "But what's the part you're most certain about?"]: That the manager said those words…

18. MHJ: “Ignore her”

19. MHJ: This?

20. Hanni: Well...there's really no need for us to be like this with each other

21. Hanni: Personally, it felt weird when the manager said something like that

3. MHJ clarifying details of the incident

22. MHJ: The words were said loud enough to hear

23. MHJ: Then everyone ignored you?

24. Hanni: Yes... That's what they said as they were coming out after I heard the door open

25. MHJ: Did all the ILLIT members ignore you?

Each question is either a direct follow-up or a rephrasing for clarification, not a leading prompt. They are spaced out over time and come in response to Hanni’s own narrative, not in an attempt to shape it.

However, Chosun Biz maliciously stitch together several different questions asked at different points of the conversation to presented these questions a rapid-fire sequence of leading questions, as if MHJ were attempting to implant ideas into Hanni’s mind or attempting to coerce her to change her story.

“Then, former representative Min asked several times, ‘Ignore, this?’ [Message #19], ‘Did everyone ignore you?’ [Message #23], ‘Did all Ailet members ignore you?’ [Message #25], ‘Did your manager tell you not to greet them?’ [Message #12]”

The real chat logn shows that the conversation is not a pushy series of questions as portrayed by Chosun Biz, but a natural dialogue in which MHJ was listening and responding to Hanni. The Chosun Biz summary strips this exchange of its pacing, context, and tone, misrepresenting MHJ’s intent and manufacturing an air of coerciveness where none existed.

3. Misuse of Hanni’s “I’m not sure” to suggest broader uncertainty

In the chat log, Hanni’s statement “I’m not sure” was directed at one very specific question:

MHJ: “Was the manager telling them not to accept your greeting?” (Message #11-12)
Hanni: “I’m not sure.” (Message #14)

This is a narrow and entirely reasonable point of uncertainty. Hanni could not confirm whether the manager's instruction was explicitly about her greeting. However, the overall behaviour she observed—both from the manager and the ILLIT members—strongly suggested that they had been told to ignore her. Her earlier and later statements made clear that she understood the nature of the incident and how it made her feel.

However, Chosun Biz manipulated this statement about a specific point into a sweeping suggestion that Hanni was unsure about the entire situation. 

“Then, former representative Min asked several times, ‘Ignore, this?’, ‘Did everyone ignore you?’, ‘Did all Ailet members ignore you?’, ‘Did your manager tell you not to greet them?’, to which Hanni replied, ‘I'm not sure.’”

This reporting implies that Hanni’s “I’m not sure” was a blanket response to all of those questions, which is factually false. In reality:

• Hanni gave clear affirmative responses to several of those questions

  • Hanni said she was certain that the manager instructed ILLIT to ignore her.

17. Hanni [Reply to: "But what's the part you're most certain about?"]: That the manager said those words…

18. MHJ: “Ignore her”

19. MHJ: This?

20. Hanni: Well...there's really no need for us to be like this with each other

21. Hanni: Personally, it felt weird when the manager said something like that

• Hanni responded “Yes” to her questions

22. MHJ: The words were said loud enough to hear

23. MHJ: Then everyone ignored you?

24. Hanni: Yes... That's what they said as they were coming out after I heard the door open

• Some of Hanni’s answers to some questions were not even shown in the screenshots released by ADOR

  • Hanni’s response to this message is not visible from the screenshots

25. MHJ: Did all the ILLIT members ignore you?

4. False framing around the “Ignore Her. This?” exchange

The actual flow of the conversation demonstrates that MHJ did not try to put words in Hanni’s mouth or manipulate her account in any way.

First, Hanni relayed her memory of the incident with no input from MHJ: 

7. Hanni: saying, Just pretend you don't know her and walk past.

8. Hanni: I can't remember if those were the exact words, but it was something like that.

Over the next 8 or more messages, Hanni continued processing the situation and describing how it made her feel. It’s until at least 8 messages or 2 minutes later, did MHJ asked a natural follow-up:

MHJ: "But what's the part you're most certain about?"

17. Hanni: That the manager said those words…

Only after this did MHJ say:

18. MHJ: “Ignore her.”
19. MHJ: “This?”

This shows that MHJ was not supplying new language to Hanni, but rather repeating and confirming the specific part of the incident that Hanni herself had said was most troubling. 

However, Chosun Biz deliberately misrepresented the context and timing of MHJ’s clarification:

Hanni conveyed, "I heard the manager over there say to just ignore it as I came out of the styling room after 4 minutes," explaining the situation, while adding, “I don’t remember exactly if those were the words, but it was something like that.” Then, former representative Min asked several times, "Ignore, this?"

This framing falsely implies that MHJ responded to Hanni’s uncertainty by supplying a phrase—“Ignore her. This?”—as if she was feeding the phrase to Hanni since Hanni isn’t sure of the wording.

By removing 8 messages in the middle, and omitting MHJ’s prior question (“What’s the part you’re most certain about?”), Chosun Biz created an illusion of manipulation that did not exist. In doing so, they distorted MHJ’s intentions and undermined Hanni’s account.