'Seventeen' Mingyu has been victim of unauthorized leak of nude photos.
On the 3rd, L'Occitane Korea posted a statement on their official SNS. They stated, "There is no room for excuses regarding the fact that unofficial photos of Mingyu were published."
They apologized to the artist and fans. They added, "We accept full responsibility and apologize. We are taking this matter very seriously."
The employee who caused the problem is currently on standby. He has also been excluded from all duties. L'Occitane Korea also promised regular training to prevent recurrence.
This incident was triggered by a SNS post by L'Occitane Korea employee A. He captured and released photos of Mingyu that appeared to have been taken during an advertisement shoot.
Regarding the photos, A wrote, "Mingyu took up a significant portion of (my) photo album," and "I couldn't delete them because I was anxious, but I'm going to organize them now."
Fans from Korea and abroad were outraged. They condemned A's illegal actions. The controversy grew because it included a photo of Min-gyu posing with his top off.
Meanwhile, Min-gyu was selected as the L'Occitane Asia brand ambassador in May.