Tablo: 'I Did Not Lie, But I Became Swindler'
Published on | Source
Tablo: "At first, I did not want to ask people to trust me because I did not lie at all. But, I thought that I might not be able to keep my family safe unless I disclose my university report card".
Tablo (real name Lee Sun Woong, 30), who graduated from Stanford University in the USA majoring in English Literature, expressed his complex feelings after he had presented documents as evidence to refute the argument concerning his allegedly forged academic background. He looked confused because he had to prove his innocence by presenting evidence for an "accident", which became an issue simply by some people who posted malicious statements that Tablo might have forged his educational background.
In 2007, the case of Shin Jeong A, who deliberately forged her academic background, had made the headlines. Tablo's academic background has been suspected of forgery as well, so he had been asked to "explain" the situation. He was interviewed through a phone call on June 11, and his voice through the phone cracked and faltered as if he had been so exhausted by this incident. According to the various documents, such as report card that he presented, he entered Stanford University in September 1998, earned a bachelor's degree in April 2001, and a master's degree in April 2002. He explained that he could acquired a bachelor's and master's degree only in three and a half years thanks to the "co-terminal" program of Stanford University. He said, "Usually it takes five to six years to finish this co-terminal program, but I could finish the course in three and a half years". Also, regarding the question from some netizens that he did not submit a master's dissertation, he answered, "The discipline regarding dissertation differed depending on schools, the course that I finished does not require a dissertation for graduation, instead, I had to present many research papers for each subject that I registered for the course. I submitted many papers on Andy Warhol, and so on".
The argument that Tablo might have forged his education background had become a bigger issue as the originator had suggested questions on his educational background intensively many times. The originator had posted massages repeatedly saying, "Tablo's name cannot be found in the list of the graduates of Stanford University". What is worse, an internet website entitled "We want the truth for Tablo" was created. Tablo had sued a netizen for defamation last April that he and his family were under personal attack, but according to a spokesperson of his agency, police had traced the IP of the originator and found out that the originator lives in a foreign country and had used another person's ID using someone else's resident registration number illegally, so it is difficult to find the originator.
Tablo expressed his feelings by saying, "I tried not to care about the trolls and sued the originator silently, but it was reported by the media. My family's address and telephone number were disclosed on the internet and there was a threatening call to threaten my life. It was too big a criticism for me and my family, which was caused only because I am an entertainer". He confessed that he had to go through hard times mentally because of those incidents. He continued to say, "One day when I go out, some students pointed the fingers of blame at me. I did not lie and there is nothing that I did wrong, but suddenly I became a swindler in this world. There's even a news article saying that the advertisement that I and my wife appeared to stop broadcasting due to the rumor that I forged my academic background, but actually it was simply because the contract term has expired. But, I think that nobody believes me even though I say the truth". He says that he might need time to cure his wounded mind and pull himself together, so he might not be able to compose music for a while.
He said, "The dean of my university told me that he is willing to have an interview if people keep distressing me, but even though I can clear myself of the false rumor, I think that it might be hard for me and my family to heal our mental hurt. My father, who had been ill for a long time, and my mother might have had her heart broken. I am so sorry for people who have loved my music, but I might need a long time before I can make music again".
Tablo (real name Lee Sun Woong, 30), who graduated from Stanford University in the USA majoring in English Literature, expressed his complex feelings after he had presented documents as evidence to refute the argument concerning his allegedly forged academic background. He looked confused because he had to prove his innocence by presenting evidence for an "accident", which became an issue simply by some people who posted malicious statements that Tablo might have forged his educational background.
In 2007, the case of Shin Jeong A, who deliberately forged her academic background, had made the headlines. Tablo's academic background has been suspected of forgery as well, so he had been asked to "explain" the situation. He was interviewed through a phone call on June 11, and his voice through the phone cracked and faltered as if he had been so exhausted by this incident. According to the various documents, such as report card that he presented, he entered Stanford University in September 1998, earned a bachelor's degree in April 2001, and a master's degree in April 2002. He explained that he could acquired a bachelor's and master's degree only in three and a half years thanks to the "co-terminal" program of Stanford University. He said, "Usually it takes five to six years to finish this co-terminal program, but I could finish the course in three and a half years". Also, regarding the question from some netizens that he did not submit a master's dissertation, he answered, "The discipline regarding dissertation differed depending on schools, the course that I finished does not require a dissertation for graduation, instead, I had to present many research papers for each subject that I registered for the course. I submitted many papers on Andy Warhol, and so on".
The argument that Tablo might have forged his education background had become a bigger issue as the originator had suggested questions on his educational background intensively many times. The originator had posted massages repeatedly saying, "Tablo's name cannot be found in the list of the graduates of Stanford University". What is worse, an internet website entitled "We want the truth for Tablo" was created. Tablo had sued a netizen for defamation last April that he and his family were under personal attack, but according to a spokesperson of his agency, police had traced the IP of the originator and found out that the originator lives in a foreign country and had used another person's ID using someone else's resident registration number illegally, so it is difficult to find the originator.
Tablo expressed his feelings by saying, "I tried not to care about the trolls and sued the originator silently, but it was reported by the media. My family's address and telephone number were disclosed on the internet and there was a threatening call to threaten my life. It was too big a criticism for me and my family, which was caused only because I am an entertainer". He confessed that he had to go through hard times mentally because of those incidents. He continued to say, "One day when I go out, some students pointed the fingers of blame at me. I did not lie and there is nothing that I did wrong, but suddenly I became a swindler in this world. There's even a news article saying that the advertisement that I and my wife appeared to stop broadcasting due to the rumor that I forged my academic background, but actually it was simply because the contract term has expired. But, I think that nobody believes me even though I say the truth". He says that he might need time to cure his wounded mind and pull himself together, so he might not be able to compose music for a while.
He said, "The dean of my university told me that he is willing to have an interview if people keep distressing me, but even though I can clear myself of the false rumor, I think that it might be hard for me and my family to heal our mental hurt. My father, who had been ill for a long time, and my mother might have had her heart broken. I am so sorry for people who have loved my music, but I might need a long time before I can make music again".
Advertisement