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| Lee Suk-chul, the leader of The EastLight., held a press conference Friday. Yonhap |
By Dong Sun-hwa
Lee Suk-chul, the 18-year-old leader of K-pop boy band The EastLight., held a press conference Friday in Seoul to reveal that he and his bandmates were subjected to habitual physical assaults by a producer for nearly four years, and that a teenage member was forced by the CEO of the agency to smoke an e-cigarette.
"Producer Moon Young-il hit me with a baseball bat and a stick at the studio and on its rooftop," said Lee. "He also threatened me, saying he would kill me if I told my parents about it."
Lee claimed that another member Lee Seung-hyun was locked in the studio and hit about 50 times, and that agency CEO Kim Chang-hwan didn't intervene after observing the assault. The CEO also made Seung-hyun, who was a middle school student, smoke an e-cigarette.
Seung-hyun is currently undergoing psychotherapy due to trauma suffered from violence, according to Lee. He was recently ousted from the group. Suk-chul also revealed that he will be on a temporary hiatus as well.
The EastLight. made its debut in in 2016, with the single "Holla."
