SCHOOL BULLYING SCANDAL ACCUSATIONS OF KPOP IDOLS OR CELEBRITIES

The thing is, suddenly in few days, there are several bullying accusation happening in SOUTH KOREA, targeting on Kpop idols or actors. So why is that? What's happening? Is it another issue diversion for some filthy government scandal? Find out your answer below.

It is a public secret that once in awhile, idols or celebrities’s scandal are used to hidden another ugly news or scandal in South Korea, especially if it’s about politics. Absurd rumors without credibility even can ruin a star’s career even it was proven false in the future. Yet for what's happening right now, I think it's safe to say that it's more similar to #METOO movement. The reason it's all popping up at once is because people were scared because obviously celebrities are backed up with their companies to protect them so why risk it but when a famous volley ball athlete was accused people slowly started opening up. This isn't only against celebrities. People who were bullied by ordinary people are opening up too.

The CAUSE:

A bullying scandal has hit a South Korea national women’s volleyball team, and the main subject is a popular twin goddess, an iconic figure in South Korea volleyball. Lee Jae-yeong and Lee Da-yeong, 24, both played for the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders, the biggest women's team in the country, and were instrumental in securing South Korea's place at the Tokyo Olympics. The twin sister were accused of bullying last week by an online poster claiming to be a former middle school teammate, who listed 21 allegations including physical violence, stealing money, and threatening with a knife.

A few days after the initial post, another alumni revealed online that the sisters had ordered younger classmates to do the laundry, hitting and bullying them. The Lees admitted their 'irresponsible behaviour in the past' in an Instagram post and apologised. It comes to light that it was mostly a verbal abuse.

The father of the twin volleyball players, Lee Da Young and Lee Jae Young has sat down for an interview to talk about his daughters’ bullying controversy. Due to the controversy, the Korean Volleyball Association retracted an award that was scheduled to be given to the twins’ mother. Meanwhile, Lee Da Young and Lee Jae Young have both been suspended from their team and the volleyball league indefinitely.

"We are receiving the punishment for all that we’ve done until now. We will receive all the criticism and use it to live better lives in the future."

The thing is after that scandal arise, people begin to seek revenge for their pass bully online, targeting each individual. It comes out that not everything online is the truth though, after all there is so many online trolls and haters who seek other misery for their miserable life. They accuse popular stars they didn't like without much proof.

Several Bullying accusation that make the accused apologized or give clarification:

1. Yoon seobin

Yoon Seobin (윤서빈) is currently a trainee under Sublime Artist Agency. He was competing on Produce X 101, and he was ranked #12 as of episode 1. However, he left the show before elimination rounds, due to bullying rumors. He is also got kicked from JYP because of the scandal. He then apologized for the victim and actually on remorse.

2. Yuk jidam

On the March 31 episode of tvN‘s “Taxi,” three cast members of “Unpretty Rapstar,” Jessi, Cheetah, and Yook Jidam appeared as guests. Yook jidam were accused to be a bully before, but on that variety she told that she is actually the victim of bullying because of her dark skin.

3. NCT TAEYONG

The NCT 127 leader has been harassed by the public and haters alike, due to an angry ex-classmate’s web of lies. An ex-classmate stepped forward to accuse Taeyong of bullying another schoolmate for her slightly larger frame, although many others had apparently left even worse comments. The issue should have ended there, but it seems the informant and the victim were unsatisfied. The two continuously tried to expose him further on online communities. Things hit a peak in May 2020, as they rehashed the issue online right before his group’s comeback, citing personality problems and a lack of sincerity in his apologies and atonement, to try and turn the public against him. Taeyong’s management company SM Entertainment released a statement saying that initially they had refrained from legal action against the constant slander, due to a request made by the artist himself. Due to this accusation, the idols are on hiatus for awhile. He might not be a bully, but Taeyeong did several bad deed in the pass (eg: scam people) and now reflecting. People change and improve. He might have school mates who hate him and want him down. (Aka blackmailing)

I doubt he bully someone, but I think he is a problematic student in the pass. His dark pass is the fuel for another accusations from his haters. The main reason for the backlash against Taeyong is that he was found involved in a scamming scandal in his middle and high school years. Apparently he used to sell broken toy figures at unreasonable prices to people online on a site similar to eBay, and cursed at them when they requested refunds. He was also said to be using especially vulgar profanity toward Japanese customers in specific, which caused netizens to deem him racist. Additionally, he was allegedly found fat shaming women online back when he was very young. He has apologized profusely multiple times and has even cried a few times on television programs to express his remorse for what he has done.

4. Yang hong won

Young B, also known by his real name Yang Hong Won, denied the controversy which began earlier this year and labeled him as a bully. Young B opened up about the issue after the performers had searched their own names on the internet before writing lyrics for their new track, “Search.” When Young B revealed he had also looked his name up, Zico commented, “Young B has a lot of malicious comments [about him] right now. We don’t even have to look to know about it.”

5. Actor Jo byung gyu

The Uncanny Counter actor Jo Byung Gyu has been hit with another bullying accusation. Previously, an alleged former classmate accused the actor of bullying him during their time together in high school. He was also accused of having a close friendship with former Big Bang member, Seungri and those involved with the Burning Sun Scandal. Yet everything has been proven false and baseless rumor. With the new photo and post from A, the alleged victim revealed more of his unpleasant encounters with Jo Byung Gyu. According to the posts, he was always forced to pay for the actor’s food anytime he was hungry. He also shared that Jo Byung Gyu would steal his allowance money that his parents worked hard for. He then disclosed how ridiculous he felt after seeing one of Jo Byung Gyu’s interviews after he became famous.

It seems the actor has a lot of haters or jealous schoolmate. It begin to be more likely as the poster even give photos of evidences. Due to this, The actor himself give official statement:

"When the false information first started spreading online, I was perplexed and I felt like I was being wronged. The next day, I received a call asking if I wanted to appeal to the situation. I had a hard time shaking off the unfair feelings and was going through a difficult time."

"I agreed to appeal, but afterwards, articles filled with even more malicious words started to appear. They had photos and words that were not related to the content of the article, but it somehow became true. I was embarrassed and taken aback at the situation. The false words that were being written online made me reflect on my 26 years of life. I became skeptical and disillusioned."

"What happened was, the person claiming to be a former classmate of mine from New Zealand had stolen the photos from a different alumni without permission. It’s true that we attended the same school, but we never went to karaoke together, nor did I inflict violence upon him. The person who wrote the rumors about me has since deleted all of the alleged accusations. I would also like to emphasize that their deletion and apology was not coerced by intimidation."

"I dreamed of being a soccer player and was a playful and happy-go-lucky student. Like everyone else, I had friends that I was close with and people that I was not friends with. I am aware that I cannot be free from the memories of those whom I didn’t know well. But when I was maliciously framed for things I didn’t do on the basis of one post and an unrelated photo, there was absolutely nothing I could do. For several days, I endured while trying to throw off thoughts that I should not think.

I was scared of writing vague posts that would make people judge me as right or wrong, so I deleted my account and posts. Why did I keep becoming the target of such volatile reports, and why did I have to explain myself each and every time? I was cautious about giving a response because I knew that my explanations could also become another arrow, another tool for others to fit into their imagined stories about me.

It’s hard for me to endure this situation in which I am being misunderstood for things I didn’t do just because of a photograph and a couple of paragraphs. I cannot respond one-by-one to all these anonymous false rumors and malicious comments. We have requested an investigation into all of it, so please be patient. Please."

6. Actress Park hye soo

Park Hye Su’s middle school classmate and alleged bullying victim spoke out once again about the school violence accusations. In regards to the bullying allegations, Park’s agency Studio Santa Claus stated, “All bullying rumors regarding Park Hye Su are not true.” As Park Hye Su was set to appear in an upcoming drama, Dear. M, her and the cast were ready to promote the drama on various shows. However, their appearances have since been cancelled as of February 22, 2021, due to the controversy surrounding Park Hye Su. According to this article It seems there is a tea on this rumor. The article give their interview with the victim. There is an evidence (rumor) said that she has hit her classmates before in the pass.

7. The boyz sunwoo

On February 22, 2021, an alleged victim stepped up to accuse THE BOYZ‘s Sunwoo of school violence, sexual harassment, and date violence. The alleged victim included a photo of their school graduation album as proof that they were indeed a fellow schoolmate. The agency then later denied the accusation.

8. Ioi kim sohye

Sohye once again in the spot light of bullying accusation. Sohye's agency is quick to deny the rumors saying, "The suspicion of abuse against Sohye is not true at all, we are preparing for an official position at the moment. Sohye also suffered from similar rumors while she was active with IOI in 2017. However, her agency countered that the rumors are baseless and unfounded.

9. Gidle soojin

On CUBE Entertainment‘s fansite application U CUBE, (G)I-DLE‘s Soojin uploaded a personal message — denying all school bullying allegations made against her as of February 22, 2021. Currently all her schedule is postponed and she is under temporary hiatus. Actress Seo Shin Ae’s Cryptic Instagram Story Hints She Is An Alleged Victim Of (G)I-DLE Soojin’s Middle School Bullying. Back in 2012 — during an interview about her bully role on the show SOS, Seo Shin Ae revealed that she was a victim of school bullying as a middle school student. She emotionally claimed, “The bully called me bbanggu ddonggu and kept mocking my acting career.” Seo Shin Ae’s Instagram story respond, “None of your excuse.” confronting Gidle soojin more. Again, CUBE Entertainment denied (G)I-DLE Soojin’s bullying allegation. In the meantime, Soojin’s schedule is cleared out.

No. 1-6 is the idols response to the claims made by the first accuser (“B”) and her older sister. 1. The reason I knew who “B” was A long time before B’s sister uploaded her post, I had learned from my old classmates that B was looking for old photos of me. At school, we were briefly close friends, so I still remembered the name of B’s sister. When she first made her post online, I could guess who she was from her user ID. I will take this moment to say firmly that my recognition of B was not because I had bullied her. 2. The retraction of thrombocytopenia In the first accuser’s post, she said that the victim had developed thrombocytopenia (low level of platelets in the blood) out of the stress that I had caused her and that she had spent a lot of time in the hospital. But when B’s sister met with an agency representative, she said that the thrombocytopenia had started in her third year of school, a long time after the alleged period of school violence mentioned in the post. She also said that the alleged school violence would not have been a cause of the illness. After the face-to-face discussion, B and her sister changed their statement to be more ambiguous and said that while the alleged school violence had not caused the illness, it likely had an impact. Since this no longer seemed to be a clear statement of victimization, the reference to thrombocytopenia was eventually removed entirely. 3. Phone argument First, when I met B in person, I sincerely apologized multiple times for using curse words while arguing on the phone with her. But I could not acknowledge any part of the alleged juice incident. In my first statement, I wrote that while I remembered the phone call, I had no memory of the juice incident, which had been described in such detail. I understand that this ended up causing confusion to those who read my statement, and I accept responsibility for that. This is what I remember about the phone call. B and I had promised to meet that day, and I was waiting for B at the promised location. A long time had passed without B showing up, and when I called her, B suddenly said that she couldn’t come. Since this wasn’t the first time that B had suddenly canceled a meeting long after the promised meeting time, I lost my temper and cursed at her on the phone. That phone call was just between B and me and there were no other friends involved. It is clearly my fault that I lost my temper and spoke in poor taste, but it is not true that I got angry at B to bully her. As soon as I began to curse, B passed the phone to her older sister. B’s older sister was an adult at the time, and she scolded me for using curse words as a middle school student, and I apologized and hung up. The sister did not once reference the juice incident on the phone, and there was no chance for me to explain in detail the reason B and I were arguing. B said that she got money from her sister to give to me, but I have never received money from B at all. After that call, B and I became distant. I have never bullied B, committed violence against her, or stolen her belongings. I have never bullied anyone further than what I have described above. When I met with B, I said that B’s sister had also cursed at me on the phone call. At first, B said that her sister had not, even though she had been standing right there, but later in the conversation she changed her statement that seemed to confirm what I said. Through an Instagram Live broadcast that night, B’s sister seemed to remember everything she had said and seemed to acknowledge that she had not just simply scolded me on the phone call. 4. About the scolding during gym class According to B’s sister, B had laughed during gym class when a student named “Oh” had called a student named “Kim” by a different name, “Nam.” According to B’s sister, Oh had come to tell me about it, and I had scolded B in front of a lot of people in front of the bathroom. Oh and I were just friendly classmates and Oh never told me anything like what was described above. I checked with Oh and at the time, there was only one gym teacher at the time in the whole school. In the first year of middle school, Oh and Kim were not in the same class and could not have been in the same gym class. It doesn’t make sense that someone would have called the name of a student from another class during school hours. According to B, this happened in front of a lot of people, so I checked with all the classmates that I was still in contact with, but no one confirmed what B said. My fellow students and I state that this did not ever happen and that it was not a situation that could ever have happened. 5. About the DMs and school violence committee meetings that were mentioned as evidence It is true that my mother was called to the school once for a school violence committee meeting. But I was called to that school violence meeting for something that had nothing to do with me. I remember my mother coming out of the conference room in tears. She has never been brazen in her speech or her manners. The teacher later held private counsels with my classmates and it was revealed that I had not committed any wrongdoing. You say that I had admitted to being called before a school violence committee? Just as I said above, that school violence committee was for a case in which it was revealed that I had been falsely accused. I was framed for things that I didn’t do and my mother was called in by the school. So can it really be said that I admitted to facing a school violence committee? At our face-to-face meeting, I spoke with B about the school violence committee. The committee was not held in public, so I explained the situation to her in detail. There was no reply, and after a long period of silence, she said that she didn’t know anything about my mother. She had posted about something she didn’t know the details of and even dragged my family into it. Even after I clearly explained to B that I had not been found guilty as the perpetrator during the school violence committee, whose meetings were held in private, she took out almost everything that I had said and posted only that I had admitted to facing a school violence committee. Even though there was a recording, even though she had said in an interview with a reporter that I had not admitted to anything during our face-to-face meeting, she went and spread the idea that I had admitted to facing a school violence committee several days later. 6. The reason that the first face-to-face meeting took place through representatives After the B’s sister first uploaded her post, the agency sent a DM asking for a face-to-face meeting. But B’s sister said that B was uncomfortable and refused to meet. The agency respected her wishes and suggested that they meet through representatives instead. I wanted to speak to B in person as well, but the DM said that B was uncomfortable, so I respected her wishes. That’s why the first meeting took place through representatives. It wasn’t because I was avoiding a face-to-face confrontation. In our first face-to-face meeting, B had even acknowledged that I was the first to request an in-person discussion.

It seems that the idols has an ill relation with the accuser, but not as far as become a bully.

10. Seventeen Mingyu

Mingyu was accused of being friends with bullies on Cyworld. Pledis Entertainment has denied all the bullying allegations made against Mingyu of SEVENTEEN. On Feb. 28, Pledis Entertainment released a lengthy statement updating CARATs about the status of the investigation into the accusations. “We have confirmed with Mingyu that the claims are groundless and completely false. We do not understand who is making these claims and with what intention. “Our company is carefully examining the other issues. However, as identifying the original posters of the allegations is difficult, and as some posters have expressed the desire not to be contacted, we are compelled to proceed with caution,” Pledis Entertainment wrote.

The statement continued, “The artist himself has expressed his deep apology for the discomfort caused to all fans with the occurrence of this issue. He has temporarily suspended his activities, and has entrusted the company to carry out all necessary examinations of the facts.” Mingyu himself already apology for not being a good model of students in his pass.

11. Straykids Hyun jin

On February 22, someone posted on an online community to accuse Stray Kids’ Hyunjin of committing school violence against them and verbally abusing them during middle school. On February 23, JYP Entertainment issued that the rumor is false and Hyunjin never a bully. But later, Hyunjin seen missing for one of his schedule. After that fans began to question more whether it's related to the bullying scandal. If you read on this ARTICLE, It seems there is a tea for the accusation. As you may know that JYP really take the bullying scandal seriously with their former trainee, Yeon Seobin, so they made another official statement. Hyun admit that he might actually hurt his classmate's feeling back in his school days. (Doesn't mention how much is the bullying level are), so he apologize for his immaturity back in the day. In the statement, I think even though Hyunjin might make mistakes in the pass and clearly not as innocent as the other idols who get accused too, but his mistakes isn’t severe and probably just reckless doing in his puberty life.

12. Everglow Aisha

On February 23, Yuehua Entertainment denied the rumors that EVERGLOW’s Aisha had been a perpetrator of school violence.

Yuehua Entertainment stated, “We have checked with [Aisha] and confirmed that the accusations are false. She does not even know who the person who wrote the post is. We ask that people stop spreading false information and reckless speculative reports that do not check to see whether the information is true or false. If this continues, we will take strong legal action to defend our artist’s rights.”

13. LOONA Chuu

On February 22, an anonymous person (hereafter referred to as “A”) claiming to have graduated the same middle school as Chuu wrote a post on an online community accusing Chuu of school violence. BlockBerry Creative has released a statement regarding the accusations of school violence made.

14. Monsta x kihyun

It seems the accusations of bullying in Korean entertainment won’t stop soon. Starship Entertainment issued another statement on February 26 regarding the allegations of school violence against MONSTA X’s Kihyun. Previously the agency has denied all the accusations, now, they said that they have solved the misunderstanding between kihyun and the accuser.

Starship is currently manage 2 ongoing accusations. In the case of the person who uploaded a post on February 22, the agency met with the person directly to confirm the facts of what happened. If something wrong really did occur, then the agency was prepared to apologize and take responsibility. Today, Kihyun met with the middle school classmate who had uploaded the post. The two of them shared a sincere discussion and resolved the misunderstandings that had built up between them over a long period of time. At the meeting, it was confirmed that the actions attributed to Kihyun in the post had been committed by another classmate, and that the poster had mistaken Kihyun as the perpetrator. Kihyun apologized to the poster for not being a dependable and proper classmate during their school life together. The poster, freed from the misunderstandings from that time, had a heart-to-heart talk with him about the past and made promises for the future. Despite all this, Kihyun still feels deep regret that he was not a model student in academics or in his school life, and that he became an adult with these undesirable memories in tow. That is why he apologized in his statement to any classmates who may have unwittingly been hurt by his immature actions or behavior. He spoke frankly about his resolve to reflect on the past and become a more mature member of society. The high light is, kihyun hasn’t done any school violence. A fight between teenagers might probably common in South Korea. It’s more likely that Kihyun is in the wrong of group at school, who actually bully another person (the accuser), and Kihyun witness it yet do nothing. He apologized as he hasn’t become a model student.

15. Gidle sooyeon

Due to her outer appearance, one netizen accuse her from school bullying but what they did not know that sooyeon is actually home schooling. The accusations then disappeared just like that.

16. APRIL Naeun

Don’t judge a book by its cover. This might be another huge controversy among kpop group, when bullying happened inside your bias group. On Feb. 28, the netizen wrote on an online community that his sister was bullied by her fellow group members. The post claimed that the bullying caused Lee to suffer panic attacks and attempt suicide, eventually resulting in her exiting the group in 2016.

DSP Media issued a statement Monday, saying that Lee was responsible for the friction within the group and that she often went missing, skipped practices and performances which affected the other members. Following multiple bullying allegations against Naeun, Dongsuh Foods Corporation has deleted all photographs featuring her promoting its cereal on its website as well as halted the broadcast of its commercial starring the K-pop star as of Wednesday. The most popular member of APRIL, Naeun, get deleted from any or her endorsement deal and TV show appearances. Naeun of K-pop girl group APRIL has been cut from the upcoming South Korean television drama Taxi Driver.

17. Actor Jisoo

KeyEast released a statement apologizing for causing discomfort and concern regarding the allegations, which included bullying that took place when the 27-year-old actor was in middle school. The agency checked with the actor and discerned which allegations were exaggerated or distorted. According to Key East, the accusations of sexual violence with coercion are completely false. The agency requests that one-sided claims about unconfirmed information should not be speculated about or written about in articles.

In a long handwritten note posted on Instagram on March 4, he wrote: "I sincerely apologise to the people who suffered because of me. There is no excuse for my past misconduct. They were things that cannot be forgiven."

His apology came in the wake of allegations in the past week from three anonymous sources who claimed to have been in school with him when they were teens.

They had detailed numerous incidents of verbal and physical abuse, and sexual harassment, with one of them calling him a "delinquent" who roamed the school like a "king" and saying there were many more alleged victims who had not spoken up.

Jisoo currently enlisted to military because of this controversy. His role as Main character in his recent drama got replaced with another actor. He is under hiatus.

18. Actor Kim Dong hee

Actor Kim Dong-hee, who floated to fame with his roles in popular TV series "Extracurricular" and "Sky Castle," has denied the allegations that he bullied his classmates, including a disabled student, when he was in middle school. The actor's agency Npio Entertainment said Monday that it will take legal action against the accuser.

19. ACTRESS SHIM EUN WOO

Earlier this month, someone who claimed to have attended middle school with Shim Eun Woo made a post on an online community accusing the actress of school bullying. The former classmate alleged that while she had not suffered physical violence, she had been a victim of intense social ostracism and psychological bullying, and that Shim Eun Woo had taken the lead in subjecting her to extreme emotional abuse. Shim Eun Woo’s agency initially issued a statement denying the allegations, claiming that the actress’s memories of the situation were unclear, but that she had been a model student who had “never engaged in misconduct.” The agency also stated that according to Shim Eun Woo’s recollection, one of her friends had fought with the writer of the post, and her group of friends had not gotten along with the classmate in question after that. However, the older sister of the classmate who wrote the post soon made her own statement contradicting the agency’s claims, and she alleged that there were many witnesses who could back up her sister’s version of events. On March 28, after meeting with her former classmate in person, Shim Eun Woo posted a personal apology acknowledging her wrongdoings and explaining her side of the story.

UPDATE: THE ACTUAL BULLY ARE HYUNJIN, JISOO, MINGKYU, APRIL, YOON SEOBIN, PARK HYESOO, TAEYONG (But more likely it’s exaggerated, yet it is a fact that he is indeed has enemy/ill relationship from school who hate and detest him, why a classmate hate him so much? USE your logic.)

KEEP IN MIND ALL OF THIS ONLY A RUMOR, SO IT MIGHT CHANGE LATER IN THE FUTURE WHERE TRUTH COMES AROUND. One more thing to highlight for all the accusations, if the accusations is baseless (not true at all), the agency would just give statements without further action. They don’t have time to feed the lie. Yet, if there is something really happening before in the pass, the idols/actors will be on hiatus for awhile to calm the news. Plus, the case might not be all about bullying or school violence, but more likely a dark pass that the idols have done in the pass. They might have hurt someone in the pass (it’s normal as human) and the hatred that build up in years from the victim go back to the idols when they’re successful. Sometimes people changes for better, and I think we should give people chances to redeem themselves. Lets just hope it isn’t an apology because they got busted.