Multiple South Korean celebs face school violence and bullying accusations
South Korean women’s volleyball twins dropped after bullying pasts emerge https://t.co/YMQDTfzRVj
- SCMP News (@SCMPNews) February 15, 2021
TW: school violence, bullying, so please be careful about anything after the cut
Lee Jae-yeong, 25, and her twin sister Lee Da-yeong, both star volleyball players, were dropped from their national team, and their club suspended them indefinitely.
"A social media post written by one of the four former teammates of the twins who alleged abuse listed 21 instances of misconduct while they all played on a volleyball team at Geunyeong Middle School in the southern city of Jeonju.
“Don’t you remember you hit me in the mouth, sending my glasses flying off my nose?”, one of the victims wrote, referring to an event where she apparently had not cheered loudly enough for the team.
In another incident, one of the twins wielded a knife, threatening a teammate who refused to do an errand for her at night.
The twins often physically abused their teammates, forcibly collected money from them so they could buy snacks, and told them to stay away because they were “smelly and dirty”, the post said."
Following this, 14 and more South Korean celebrities were hit with such claims:
Bullying Allegations Roundup: 14 Korean celebrities hit by claims - By: IATFB https://t.co/RsEKTgzIOa
- Asian Junkie (@asianjunkiecom) February 23, 2021
The one which received major attention was G-Idle, a kpop group's Soojin's bullying accusations.
Cube Entertainment Denies School Violence Rumors Surrounding (G)I-DLE's Soojinhttps://t.co/61rWSoeCAX pic.twitter.com/sCRaN1yHCM
- Soompi (@soompi) February 21, 2021
On February 20, someone claiming to be the older sister of bullying victim of Soojin, posted in an online community, that Soojin, had slapped her sister, extorted money from students.
Her agency, Cube Entertainment, came back with a statement, that basically stated, that it was just a dispute and the bullying accusations are embellished.
Another accuser came forward, who came with receipt that she attended the same school as Soojin, and a comment she left on a video of Soojin before, alluding to being her schoolmate and that she could forgive her later. Her accusations were similar to the first victim's, physical violence and money extortion.
(G)I-DLE’s Soojin Personally Addresses Rumors About Her Past School Lifehttps://t.co/8nycFRS0W8 pic.twitter.com/yvj7C1M412
- Soompi (@soompi) February 22, 2021
Soojin, personally addressed the rumors in G-Idle's fan community, that while she 'strayed' in childhood, she never caused anyone bodily harm.
Kpop community has been overwhelmed with these accusations, and international fans have gone on hyper defensive mode. But thing to note, school violence and bullying are quite endemic in Korean schools, which is why Korean general public have been so sympathetic to the victims. And Naver, South Korea's most popular search engine is removing the popular searches option from 25th February onwards. General public fear, this will allow powerful people to sweep news under the rug. So, a lot of victims, probably want their stories to be shared before that happens.
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