Sim Soo-bong: “I hope Kim Da-hyun can regain her composure and grow” ... Apologizes again at first performance since public-callout controversy

[Financial News] Singer Sim Soo-bong (71), who sparked controversy by publicly calling out her junior singer Kim Da-hyun (17), apologized again at the first performance she took part in since the controversy.
Yonhap News reported on the 2nd that Sim Soo-bong had apologized again for her harsh criticism of Kim Da-hyun during a national tour stop held at Baegun Art Hall in Wonju, Gangwon Province, on the 31st of last month.
Sim Soo-bong said that day, “They were words I should never have said, all stemming from my own shortcomings and inadequacies,” adding, “I have spent time reflecting and repenting, and I will continue to live with that attitude.”
She continued, “Kim Da-hyun must have had a very hard time, but I hope she can regain her composure and grow into a fine musician,” and said, “Above all, I will keep in my heart and cherish for a long, long time the deep love of the audience and fans who came to the concert even in this situation.”
Last September, at the 10th Jinan Highland Trot Festival in Jinan County, Jeonbuk State, Sim Soo-bong took the stage after Kim Da-hyun and directed a series of remarks at her in front of the audience, including: “The woman who sang before me made my head spin”; “The young lady seems not to know what a song is or what life is. Please don’t put that performer on before me”; and “Singing isn’t something you can do so carelessly. You have to experience life and hardship.”
After a video containing those remarks spread on social media (SNS) and various online communities, sparking controversy, Sim Soo-bong apologized, saying, “I have no excuse whatsoever for blurting out something so far beyond common sense at an inappropriate moment at a trot festival where everyone should be laughing and enjoying themselves.”
She added, “I didn’t know exactly who the singer before me was, and I absolutely did not say it to humiliate a specific person,” and, “As an adult, I was clearly wrong to say something that hurt a junior singer’s feelings.”
Kim Da-hyun, who was born in 2009, is the daughter of Kim Bong-gon, known as the “Cheonghak-dong village schoolmaster.” She was runner-up on MBN’s Voice Trot in 2020 and placed third on MBN’s The Best K-Trot Singer in 2023.
Sim Soo-bong, who was born in 1955, rose to prominence with “The Man Back Then” at the 2nd MBC College Song Festival in 1978, and went on to release hit songs including “Men are Ships, Women are Ports” and “A Million Roses.”
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