AGAIN, POPULAR KOREAN ACTOR CAUGHT IN BULLYING SCANDAL

It seems there are several troublesome public figure in Korean entertainment industry, and their pass is haunting them. A year ago there was a lot of talk about bullying cases in the entertainment world. Starting from one of the victims of bullying by athletes who spoke up in online forums, other victims also dared to do the same thing regarding the trauma of being bullied by Korean idols and actresses and actors.

Last February, an anonymous person uploaded a post on an online community titled “Actor Kim Dong Hee born in 1999 was a school violence perpetrator.” The post states, “I really hate seeing him proudly having a career as a celebrity and receiving love from people when his daily life involved hitting and bullying people.” The writer of the online post also included testimonies from people who graduated from the same school and added Kim Dong Hee’s graduation picture as evidence.

A who identified alumni Kim Donghee from elementary school revealed that hitting and harassing his friends was routine for Kim Dong Hee. Anonymous B, who attends the same high school as Kim Dong Hee, claimed that the actor also smoked e-cigarettes in the classroom and that he experienced physical and verbal abuse by Kim Dong Hee.

After the agency gave its official rebuttal statement, the OP or the person who posted the post on the online community, again added an explanation of Dong Hee's bullying actions.

By uploading proof of the graduation book for the Pajang Elementary School and Imok Middle School where Kim Dong Hee attended school, the OP shared, "I was threatened several times with sharp objects to my neck for trivial reasons that I don't even remember."

There is even a new victim speak against the young actor and said, “Kim Dong Hee hung an E-cigarette around his neck or kept it in the pocket of his school uniform, and he smoked inside the classroom.” They added, “He slapped the face of a fellow student who has a disability by playing games to their disadvantage, and he made people who were pushovers massage him.”

On December 28, 2021, Newsen media released news that Kim Dong Hee's side announced the results of the investigation into the case of alleged bullying by Dong Hee during school. He was found not guilty on charges of bullying a friend with a disability.

One of the OPs reported by Kim Dong Hee underwent an interview with the media and submitted evidence from the police investigation. In the results it was written that Kim Dong Hee did not admit that he had threatened the OP with a sharp object, but Kim Dong Hee admitted that there was violence such as pushing and stepping on the OP's chest.

This also surprised fans because it turned out that the actor had committed violence during his school days. The police have concluded the OP is not guilty of defamation due to the lack of evidence on the part of the plaintiffs.

Although Kim Dong Hee's side admitted that he had bullied the victim, he claimed that not all of the allegations from the OP were true. This Extracurricular drama actor also emphasized that the OP exaggerated what really happened and led public opinion.

The school admitted that they apologized to the OP and his family on behalf of the school for the bullying incident. OP's mother also testified that Kim Dong Hee and her mother once came to her house to apologize.

Due to this, the actor now come forward and speak clean about his pass:

Hello, this is Kim Dong Hee. I would like to tell you my position on the issue reported yesterday. When I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, I got into an argument with my classmate in the classroom, and it eventually turned into a fight. [Afterward], I got punished by my teacher. When my mother heard the news, she scolded me a lot and took me to that classmate’s house where I apologized to him and his mother. Later on, not only did we attend tutoring classes together, but I also ate dinner with him and his family. We spent a lot of time together without any problems, so I thought they had forgiven me. I didn’t know that I was the only one who had thought that. I didn’t realize that they were still hurt by it. After the post was uploaded last year, I wanted to apologize to my friend immediately, but I couldn’t muster up the courage because I was afraid that everything I didn’t do would be accepted as the truth and cause another misunderstanding. I wanted to correct what wasn’t true, and it has already been a year since then. Due to my careless judgements and thoughts when I was little, I don’t think I deeply understood how he felt. I sincerely apologize for the pain I caused, and I want us to work things out. Also, I deeply regret and apologize to those who were hurt by my immature words and actions when I was young.

The fans are now split into two sides. There are people who still support the actor and think:

There was one instance - argument that turned into fisticuffs, teacher gave a punishment and KDH's mother took him to the families home and he apologized to the 'victim' and his mother. Later they continued to interact and have meals together. By that, I would assume the incident is forgiven and everyone was moving on. If the 'victim' had posted the incident truthfully, as one time and not ongoing bullying, the agency may have forgone the lawsuit. KDH expressed that he wanted to just apologize to the friend as he didn't realize this was still an issue for him. I don't think most of us would continue to wonder if a friend was still upset 10-20 years later if we still had interactions with them. If you accept ones apology then you should not hold them accountable years later because they are famous or not. Otherwise, you clearly didn't accept the apology and are being revengeful.

What do you think about it?