The Korean tabloids have been blooming frantically over the last few months, piping up numerous scandals of bullying and school violence against K-Pop and the K-Drama Idols. The contention never ends, and the spate of bullying against South Korean celebs is like a firestorm over social media.
Though South Korea is not anonymous with the bullying culture, the vast and popular entertainment industry has made it a pretty controversial content to over. These events have rocked the Korean industry, and many high-profiles renowned had to excuse, the victims and their fan groups, in contrast, others denied the allegations and claimed to place legal charges over the false accusations. So let's take a look around the idols hitting rock bottom:
1. Choi Ye Bin
The South-Korean actress best known for her role in "Penthouse: War in Life", where she rose to the throne by playing the character of the wicked student Ha Eun-Byeol was dragged in a nasty bullying allegation after a post surfaced by a fellow Netizen claiming to be one of her classmates that she tormented her with the intentions to bully. The J Wide - Company, the actress' agency, was quick to respond to the allegations and further look into the matter. The agency confirmed from other fellow-mates that this issue was not as described in the post; instead, it was fancied to bring down the actress' repute. The agency denied the allegations and claimed to take legal action over the post for false accusations but later dropped the idea of pressing charges.
2. Seo Ye-Ji
The Netflix hit drama "It's Okay Not to Be Okay" actress SEO Ye-Ji is in multiple controversies this decade. The series of extreme events follows her from the bizarre gossip about her dominating nature in her relationship to violence and bullying staff. The actress who recently accumulated massive popularity of the above drama has hit rock bottom with such accusations. Her ex-boyfriend Kim Jung Hun was the first hassle she faced when the actress is accused of manipulating and controlling her ex-boyfriend into cutting out romance scenes with co-star Seohyun and keeping a rude distance from the female workers and colleagues during the set of Time. A vast number of events flooded after this scandal; soon she was accused of bullying, tormenting, and violence against the staff workers ordering them to bring out cigarettes for her and checking their phones periodically to avoid capture of her arrogant behaviour. Though her agency denied all kinds of scandals, the actress avoided the spotlight for a while. In a recent Instagram post, the actress was seen playing with a puppy reading out the caption as " It's great to have someone who believes in you."
3. Kim Ji Soo
The famous actor known for his works in 'Strong Woman Do Bong' Soon has been hit by netizens all over social media and faces backlash over being a sexual predator and a school bully including, verbal abuse and violence. The accusations were claimed by a classmate who has been a victim of the actor's behaviour and that the actor was not only a bully during school time but was also involved in sexual acts in the school bathroom. Ji Soo has posted a handwritten apology over the gram apologizing for the misconduct and how no excuses can reflect what he has done in the past.
4. Kim Dong Hee
'Itaewon Class' brought fame to the actor's name and was later hit by accusations such as being a school violence perpetrator and was accused of being a bully who roamed around with an e-cigarette around his neck and bullied the weaker ones. The accused conveyed that the actor shouldn't be a celebrity who receives love and affection when his daily life involves hitting and coercing people. The actor's agency denies all the allegations, claiming them to be false and fabricated, pressing legal charges for the same.
5. Jo Byung Gyu
The Uncanny Counter lead actor Byung Gyu was faced twice with the allegations of bullying. For the former most accusation the post was deleted soon, no legal action was taken, recently the actor again faced backlash from two others claiming physical abuse by the said act; the agency pressed legal action against the two and received an apology for causing false and baseless rumours affecting the physical reputation as well as the mental health of the actor. The actor then in an Instagram post says, he cannot quantify the damages this has caused to him, his 10-year career is shattered and all his projects are on halt. He cannot even sleep properly and has to walk with his eyes down to the ground.
6. Hyun Jin
Hwang Hyunjin, a popular eight boy member of Stray Kid was struck with accusations of being violent and using verbal abuse during middle school. The actor himself has apologized to the victim and posted a handwritten apology stating whether his actions were intentional or not he has caused someone immense pain and for that he would repent by taking time off from his career and was found to be absent in many promotional activities and been suspended from the boy band till further notice.
7. Kim Sohye
Former member of the IOI, the actress, and singer was repeatedly accused of being a school bully and using force against classmates. The post was gone around stating that she is not a victim, but a witness just describing the facts that happened during middle school. She claimed that Sohye was sitting next to a girl on a bench, pulled her hair, and made her kneel in the park. Later the S&P entertainment took its ground and stated, though Kim Sohye was involved in a school violence committee during her immature ages, she has been punished and has already shown repentance towards the victim, which was not a case of bullying but instead simple mistaking that led to a fight between the two. The legal charges and the police probe are still being carried on to resolve the matter.
8. Soo Jin
In February 2021, the singer was slammed with extreme allegations of bullying and violence where Cube, the entertainment agency of the idol, at first supported her and agreed to press legal actions against any false accusations, but when actress Seo Shin-ae took the front and confirmed that she was also a victim during middle school, the agency kept quiet since then. In August, Cube Entertainment put forward the statement of (G)I_DLE being a five-member group from now on which shook the fan world from the core; the anger sore heights when no explanation was provided for Soojin stepping down without a word assuming the accusations were true.
9. Sun Woo
The rapper of THE BOYZ was accused of committing sexual harassment, dating violence as well as school violence in middle school. The agency is named, Cre. Ker Entertainment denied all the allegations and said, legal action has been taken against the person spreading false rumors and we would go through depths to bring out the truth to the fans. The singer is not involved in school violence and was falsely accused of the same.
10. Aisha
Yuehua Entertainment, the agency of Aisha, member of Everglow group, has strongly declined all the allegations put forward in the name of Aisha being a bully or of committing sexual violence against any student during her schooling. The allegations by the victim were as such, ' I had a kinship with the idol's friend and she claimed to be her ex-girlfriend passing pathetic comments and harassing me by asking questions in public about how far I have been with him or if I have been involved and other such personal comments. ' The agency adhered to strict actions if such baseless rumours would follow in the future.
The Korean industry saw storms and hurricanes of bullying scandals this year, involving popular celebs and idols causing a ruckus in the Korean fan world. Are the grounds sufficient to prove such allegations?
Let us know your views on your favorite idol scandal.
