Girl group IVE’s agency will take legal action against YouTube channel Sojang, known for spreading unsubstantiated rumors about K-pop stars.

IVE’s management Starship Entertainment issued a statement Tuesday.

“We have been taking firm legal action against malicious slander, false information, personal attacks, defamatory posts and hate comments toward our artists that have been circulating online and on social media,” the agency said.

Starship added that it sued repeat hate commenters last October, who were sentenced to six months in prison, employment restrictions and being listed on sex offender registries online.

Sojang has been one of the most infamous K-pop gossip channels for the past couple of years. Starship said it has been taking legal measures against Sojang since last November, not only in Korea but also abroad, in order to obtain Sojang’s personal information from Google. The YouTube channel operator’s personal information is necessary to take legal action.

According to Starship, the agency was finally able to obtain information about Sojang’s admin from Google this month, following an order by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in May.

Starship added that around that time in May, Sojang claimed to have been hacked, suddenly deleted numerous videos on the channel and issued an apology.

“It is well known that Sojang has seriously defamed and obstructed our work by persistently spreading false information about IVE members,” Starship’s statement reads. “Regardless of her apology or whether it was really by Sojang, we will continue to hold [Sojang] accountable through the ongoing lawsuits.”

To find out more about IVE, check out Celeb Confirmed!

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]