Executives from Cube Entertainment, the record label of 4Minute and Trouble Maker rapper Kim HyunA, are threatening legal action against the creators and perpetrators of fake nude photos of the pop star.
In an official statement released to several media outlets on Thursday, the Cube Entertainment execs vowed to pursue all avenues to bring to justice the people who created the fake photos of HyunA, using the common practice of putting a celebrity's face on a photo of a naked model, with the aid of photo editing software like Photoshop, and then posted the images online.
"We are letting you know that we will take strong legal action against those responsible for fabricating and spreading composite photos and false rumors involving HyunA which have been spreading on mobile messengers and social networking sites," the Cube Entertainment statement read.
"We have submitted documents that we have prepared, which include the original photos used to make these composite photos and the process used to create them, to the police," the statement continued.
"We have requested a strict punishment, and the investigation is set to be underway. We will not condone those responsible for fabricating and spreading malicious composite photos and rumors concerning our artists."
Yet, at least in the US, the damage appears to have already been done.
A Google image search using the phrase "Hyuna nude photos," produces not only nude photo composites of HyunA, who turns 22 on Friday, but faked pornographic images of her as well.
And despite Cube Entertainment's best intentions, as the old saying goes, "once it's on the Internet, it's there forever."
Allkpop reader Mercy1990 is horrified.
"Oh, for the love of Pete! What is wrong with people?" she wrote on Thursday.
"Poor girl. I'm glad that her company is protecting her though. I hope they find the perpetrators and that the punishment is severe. And for those of you saying that she's asking for this kind of thing, because of her music videos, that's like saying a woman wearing shorts and a tank top is asking to get raped."
Reader Fxcx09 agrees.
"[Just] because she uses the sexy concept when she goes solo, that doesn't mean she is a nude model," he wrote. "Sexy concepts onstage and being a porn star offstage is a totally different thing.
