Veteran singer Shim Soo-bong publicly apologized on stage to teenage trot singer Kim Da-hyun on October 31, addressing the controversy over her remarks at a September trot festival for the first time in front of a concert audience.
According to Spotv News, the apology came during Shim’s national tour concert, “2026 THE Shim Soo-bong SHOW,” held at 7:30 p.m. on October 31 at Baekun Art Hall in Wonju, Gangwon Province. The report described the show as Shim’s first official stage since the controversy broke out in September.
During the performance, Shim stopped singing, took the microphone, and brought up the incident herself. “It was words that should not have been said, all stemming from my own shortcomings,” she said, according to Spotv News.
Shim added that she had spent time reflecting and repenting since the incident, and said she would continue to live with that attitude going forward. She also offered encouragement to Kim Da-hyun, saying she hoped the younger singer, despite having had a hard time, would gather herself and grow into a great musician.
She closed the apology by thanking the audience and fans who still came to the concert despite the situation, saying she would hold their deep love in her heart and cherish it for a long time.
The controversy began at the Jinan Plateau Trot Festival in September, where Kim Da-hyun performed earlier in the running order. Spotv News reported that Shim referred to her on stage as “the woman who sang before me,” saying the performance had messed up her head and that the young singer seemed not to know what a song or life is. Shim also asked organizers not to put a performer ahead of her again, saying music that comforts people who have endured hardship is not easy.
The October 31 concert matters because it was not another written statement: it was Shim facing a live audience at her own tour show, weeks after the festival, and naming the remarks herself mid-performance. That, in Spotv News’ account, set this apology apart from the earlier fallout, when the remarks drew criticism online and Shim apologized after the festival.
No new response from Kim Da-hyun was reported in the Spotv News article about the Wonju concert. For now, Shim’s on-stage apology stands as the latest public development in a dispute that began at a single festival stage.
