Boy band Highlight’s Yang Yo-seop apologized in an Instagram story on Thursday for “excluding others” from an informal chat he held with fans a day earlier.

“Yesterday [Wednesday] evening, many fans tuned into the [Kakao] open chat and I did my best to communicate with them,” Yang said.

Kakao’s open chat feature allows users with a link to join a chat room. Users can join anonymously, but only if they have the link.

“The open chat was exclusive to a couple of people, which made others feel left out,” Yang continued. “I’ve always felt that when I was with a lot of people, it was very one-sided, which is why I created the open chat room. However, I realize that this choice may have been hurtful to others. I apologize to everyone who felt bad. I’ll be more careful of my actions.”

After Yang communicated with fans in the open chat room, some online users criticized him for socializing with only a small number of people and excluding others.

Yang debuted in 2009 as a member of boy band Beast, which later changed its name to Highlight. It released hit songs like “Bad Girl” (2009), “Mystery” (2009), “Fiction” (2022), “Shadow” (2013) and “Plz Don’t Be Sad” (2017).

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]