On this day, K-pop fans were shaken by news that Cha Eun-woo of ASTRO is facing allegations of tax evasion after South кσяєα’s National Tax Service issued a notice demanding tax payments exceeding 20 billion won. The total amount is equivalent to nearly USD 13.7 million. According to reports, this figure includes additional income taxes and was determined following a comprehensive audit conducted prior to his military enlistment in July last year. Authorities described the case as one of the largest tax reαѕѕessments ever imposed on a public figure.

Fantagio declined to confirm specific details regarding the address in question. The company emphasized that the unresolved issue centers on whether the entity involved legally qualifies as a taxable corporation. Officials confirmed that the case remains under review. Cha Eun-woo’s side reportedly filed an appeal prior to the tax αѕѕessment, arguing that the company had been properly registered and was operating lawfully. Fantagio stated that the artist and his tax advisors will fully cooperate throughout the proceedings.

Although no final conclusion has been reached, online discussions quickly escalated. As the story spread, attention moved beyond the core issue. Jungkook—widely known as a longtime close friend of Cha Eun-woo and a member of the so-called “97 line” friendship group—was suddenly dragged into the controversy despite having no direct involvement.

Numerous posts resurfaced old photos and moments of Cha Eun-woo with Jungkook and other 97 line members such as SEVENTEEN’s Mingyu, GOT7’s Yugyeom, and NCT’s Jaehyun. These posts mocked the tax dispute while emphasizing their connections, implying that all of them were somehow complicit in wrongdoing.

Notably, although these negative posts were one-sided and misleading, they still garnered millions of views. For example, a post exaggerating the past Itaewon incident involving the 97 line accumulated 4.6 million views. Another post alleging that Jungkook had eaten eel at a restaurant owned by Cha Eun-woo’s family—an establishment purportedly linked to tax evasion—received 1.7 million views. Yet another post retweeted content from Panchoa about Cha Eun-woo while adding negative commentary about Jungkook, also drawing tens of thousands of views.

Beneath these posts were comments such as: "These men are soмєтнing else. Chasing women, committing crimes, and even evading taxes — real multitaskers", "Problematic 97 liners", "How can someone become this unlikeable in just a moment?", "Is Jungkook that thirsty? Or is he craving chicken wings?", "Jungkook doesn't want to make a comeback anymore, right? Why would he hang out with someone like Cha Eunwoo?", "They say birds of a feather flock together, and Jungkook is even richer than Cha Eunwoo. Do you really think he's innocent?", "I know for sure that the 97-liner is full of problematic people, but the fans keep praising them to the skies", "I told you guys that 97lines is the weirdest squad, every single one of its member",...

These posts were clearly intended to sway public opinion, attack, and distort the moral character and integrity of Jungkook and other 97 line celebrities αѕѕociated with Cha Eun-woo. Witnessing Jungkook being targeted despite having no involvement, ARMYs could not remain silent. Fans quickly pointed out that the photos were taken years ago and had no relevance to the current tax issue. They also noted that past controversies involving the 97 line had already been resolved. As such, dragging Jungkook or other artists into Cha Eun-woo’s personal matter was unreasonable.

ARMYs also advised fans of fellow artists not to engage with such toxic posts, instead encouraging them to report the content on Twitter. Fans were urged to submit emails and reports regarding defamatory posts and individuals targeting Jungkook directly to protect.hybecorp.com. In addition, fans trended hashtags such as #WeLoveYouJungkook and shared supportive content for Jungkook across social media platforms to counter the spread of negativity.

ARMYs expressed their anger and frustration over Jungkook being targeted in a controversy in which he has absolutely no involvement:

- Imagine being so jobless that you create an account and pretend to be кσяєαn just to put Jungkook in soмєтнing that doesn't concern him and ended years ago and he apologized many times without being wrong even?

- imagine being so obsessed with jk that you’re dragging him into a situation that has literally nothing to do with him. also what you’re trying to prove makes zero sense anyway since bh already cleared it. you’re miserable for lying and inventing stuff like this just bc u hate him

- “кσяєαns’ constant attempts to drag Jungkook into every situation.”

- The concept of blaming Jungkook for soмєтнing the other guy is involved in which he is not related to at all

- the concept of dragging jungkook in a mess which isn't related to him at all. wtf, are you still sane?

- These people just reposting things completely out of context. Only one person is actually related to the main issue—so why drag others into it too? God gave us brains to think, not to act like fried brains

- Going out of your way to act like this is honestly so stereotypically кσяєαn male behavior and it’s disgusting. Claiming someone did soмєтнing they never did, dragging them into it for no reason, and then smugly acting like everything you say is absolutely right

- What does Jungkook have to do with this?

- Dragging Jungkook into a scandal he has nothing to do with is irresponsible and malicious. Leave him out of it

- This has nothing to do with Jungkook. Weaponizing friendships to attack someone is disgusting behavior