RED VELVET'S IRENE APOLOGISES OVER BULLYING: South Korean singer Irene, the leader of K-pop girl group Red Velvet, has apologised after she was accused of bullying a stylist.

On Wednesday, a stylist who said she has 15 years of experience in the industry wrote on social media about an unpleasant experience with an unnamed celebrity. She said she felt humiliated and cried after being "trampled and abused".

While she did not mention names, she used the hashtags #psycho and #monster. Psycho is a song recorded by Red Velvet, while Monster is recorded by Irene & Seulgi, a sub-unit of Red Velvet.

In an Instagram post late on Thursday, Irene, 29, wrote in Korean: "I sincerely apologise for hurting the stylist with my foolish attitude and careless words and actions."

SM Entertainment, Red Velvet's agency, released a statement saying it will work hard to prevent such incidents from recurring. It added that Irene, whose real name is Bae Joo-hyun, met the stylist and apologised to her on Thursday afternoon.

The activities of Red Velvet, whose other members are Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri, have been affected as a result. They were due to attend an online fan meeting as part of Korean Culture Festival today, but SM has told the organisers they would not be doing so.