Former NCT Taeil Erases Online Presence Following Sex Crime Allegations

Group NCT Taeil.photo courtesy of SM Entertainment

Taeil (real name Moon Taeil), a former member of the group NCT, left the team following controversy over sex crimes. He has since gone into hiding, making his SNS and YouTube accounts private or deleting content without explanation or apology.

As of the 5th, Taeil’s official Instagram account is now private. When attempting to access it, users are met with the message, "This account is private. Please follow this account to see their photos."

Similarly, Taeil’s personal YouTube channel, 'Taeil_Moon,' which had 220,000 subscribers, has had its content deleted en masse. Users now see only the message, "Channel does not have content."

All of Taeil’s personal online channels have been closed without any apology or explanation regarding the sex crime allegations.

Earlier, on the 28th, NCT’s agency SM Entertainment announced that Taeil would be leaving the group due to accusations of sex crimes. Taeil was booked in June on charges of sex crimes, with the news only emerging about two months later.

SM Entertainment confirmed that Taeil was accused in a criminal case related to sex crimes, stating, "We recognized that the issue was very serious and decided that Taeil could no longer continue with the team. After discussions with Taeil, we agreed on his withdrawal from the group."

The statement continued, "Taeil is cooperating with the police investigation. We will provide further updates depending on the progress of the investigation." Following this, SM immediately began erasing Taeil's presence from the group. The introduction picture of NCT 127 on the fan communication platform Weverse was updated to exclude Taeil, and his official NCT 127 account was removed. Other NCT 127 members have also removed Taeil’s account from their profiles.

Furthermore, Taeil, who previously had nearly 6 million followers, has seen a rapid decline in following since the announcement of his departure.

Taeil debuted as NCT’s main vocalist in 2016 and was a member of both NCT 127 and NCT U.