Former HIGHLIGHT member Junhyung came back with an album and a defense regarding the controversial group chats in 2019.

On Thursday, Junhyung dropped his comeback EP album, "Loner," and the music video for its title song, "Koong." The recent music projects marked his first solo gig in four years since "Goodbye 20's" was released in 2018.

His former group, HIGHLIGHT - formerly known as BEAST - also came back with "After Sunset" earlier this month.

Aside from returning with new music, Junhyung also took his chance to explain the "Jung Joon Young" group chat controversy and revealed whether he ever became part of it.

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Junhyung Says He's Not Involved in Kakaotalk Group Chats

In an online press conference on Thursday following the release of his solo EP, Junhyung talked about the group chats and clarified that he was not part of any of those.

"I was not part of any of the group chat rooms. I was fully aware of the wrongfulness of the conversations at the time and I regret not correcting them back then," he said.

Junhyung pledged to continue giving fans positive news instead now that he is back.

It was not the first time he talked about it, though. In a since-deleted Instagram post, he clarified that his label posted a denial of his alleged involvement in Jung Joon Young's case by mistake. The agency received a call on March 11 that year, and he said that he was never part of the Kakaotalk group chats, leading the company to take his side as if he was part of it.

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Although he was not part of the group chats, he admitted to receiving clips from the disgraced singer. He also said he was part of the "inappropriate conversations" instead.

The emergence of the news led him to leave the K-pop boy group and go on hiatus. Around Us Entertainment issued a similar statement and confirmed his direct conversations with Jung Joon Young.

As he tries to get back his career, Junhyung also gave fans another good news.

Apart from the EP, he also held a solo concert on November 4 to 5 in Seoul. Last month, his agency Black Made unveiled the official poster of his solo concert, "Loner's Room." The two-day show welcomed his fans at Yes24 Livehall.

Who Were Involved in the Group Chats?

The aforesaid Kakaotalk group chats were part of the controversial Burning Sun Scandal, in which former BIGBANG member Seungri also got involved with. Other K-pop idols who had been tied to it included FTISLAND's Choi Jonghoon and CNBLUE's Lee Jong Hyun.

The core chat ultimately crippled the careers of Jung Joon Young, Choi Jong Hoon, and Seungri. The three former K-pop stars were part of the conversation alongside the former CEO of Yuri Holdings, Yoo In Suk, a former YG Entertainment Employee, a friend of Jung Joon Young, and a club employee who was referred to as Mr. Kim.

Sports Seoul reported that the singer was being investigated for secretly filming sex act. From there, the people involved got acquitted.

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Written by Alexandria Kim.