SEOUL, March 14 — FNC Entertainment announced today that Choi Jong-hoon will be leaving FTISLAND and retiring from K-pop.

In a statement, the agency apologised for its shortcomings for failing to properly manage its artists.

"We bow are heads in sincere apology for neglecting proper management and character education of our artists and for worrying many people through unpleasant events,” FNC Entertainment said in a translation provided by gossip site Koreaboo.

"We strongly feel the severity and responsibility towards the matter and will do our best to cooperate so that the facts will clearly be uncovered during police investigations.”

Yesterday, FNC Entertainment said that Choi would stop all activities related to the pop-rock band and would also be assisting police with their investigations.

Over the past week, reports have linked the 29-year-old entertainer to a KakaoTalk chatroom in which now-disgraced singer/actor Jung Joon-young had shared illicit sex videos and pictures.

According to Korean media sources, there is also speculation that Choi might have bribed the police to not reveal his drink-driving arrest in 2016.

Local broadcaster SBS reported that Choi, Jung, BIGBANG star Seungri and others were involved in a discussion over how to keep the drink-driving under wraps, including bribery.

Yesterday, upset FTISLAND fans lashed out at Choi for keeping mum amid the rumours and the band’s management FNC for not addressing the various issues.

In their statement, the fans noted that "as a leader, he has disgraced FTISLAND’s image and is expected to negatively affect their activities. We strongly demand as of March 13, 2019 that Choi Jong-hoon be removed, not suspended, from the group.”

Meanwhile, in a related development, Seoul police called in Jung and Seungri for questioning today over Jung’s illicit video-taping of women in sex acts and Seungri’s procurement of prostitutes for VIP clients of his club, Burning Sun.

This morning, another member of the chatroom, Yong Junhyung, announced that he would be leaving K-pop band Highlight — formerly known as Beast — after admitting that he had viewed a video of Jung having sex with women taken without their consent.

Seungri and Jung’s contracts with their respective agencies were terminated earlier this week, after they announced their decision to leave the entertainment industry.