Ko Ji-yong posts “Shh” amid fan backlash over “Don’t use the team”... The story behind the 890,000-won ticket controversy

[Financial News] With controversy mounting over a fan group’s statement of opposition and high-priced tickets ahead of a year-end stage featuring Ko Ji-yong, a former member of SECHSKIES, alongside former bandmates, the event’s organizer issued an official explanation.
Mountain Movement Story Co., the organizer of the performance “THE TREE in INSPIRE - Jekki’s Untold Story,” said in a statement on the 4th, “This event is not intended to announce or pursue an official SECHSKIES reunion or activities as a full group.” It added, “There has been absolutely no announcement that Ko Ji-yong is officially rejoining the team or returning to activities in the future.”
The organizer continued, “This is a year-end party-style event planned separately by Ko Ji-yong, Jang Su-won and Lee Jai-jin, who are each going their own way, to share music and memories.” It pushed back, saying, “Mounting an opposition campaign on the premise of a team reunion that does not even exist does not accord with the facts.”

The conflict erupted recently after a SECHSKIES fan alliance issued a statement strongly opposing Ko Ji-yong’s participation in the stage performance. The alliance said that even after he stopped group activities in the past, Ko had continued to use the team’s trademark rights and fandom for personal needs such as business, and demanded that he stop commercial ventures using the team’s name and attempts to take part in a reunion.
In 2018, Ko Ji-yong was also embroiled in controversy over a company he was affiliated with using the SECHSKIES brand to promote its business. At fans’ request, he was subsequently removed from the group profile on portal sites.
After the fans’ statement of opposition was released, Ko Ji-yong posted a photo on his social media on the 3rd, with the caption “Please!!,” showing him holding his index finger to his lips in a gesture calling for silence. He set the Black Eyed Peas’ song “Shut Up” (literally, “shut up”) as the background music, fueling controversy as some interpreted it as a swipe at the fans’ opposition.
The organizer raised questions about whether the fan alliance was representative. It countered, “The statement does not specify the group’s name, its representative or the number of participants, making it difficult to objectively determine what range of fans it represents.”


The organizer also addressed the controversy over “exploitative, sky-high prices targeting the fandom,” which arose after the event information image showed prices ranging from the 450,000-won range up to the 890,000-won range.
The organizer said, “Those amounts are not admission fees for the performance; they are merely examples of room rates listed on the official website of Inspire Hotel & Resort.” It added, “Reports that treat hotel room rates as ticket prices and portray the entire event as overpriced are not true.” The organizer said it would request corrections to reports published without fact-checking.
Ko Ji-yong will take the stage with former members for the first time in about 10 years, since his surprise appearance at the 2016 guerrilla concert on MBC’s “Infinite Challenge.” The performance, featuring only three members and excluding Eun Ji-won and Kim Jae-deok, is scheduled for December 15–16 at INSPIRE Arena in Incheon.
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter