Rising actor Choi Woo Jin added to the cast of Yoo Yeon Seok and Chae Soo Bin's upcoming K-drama
Kim Ji Soo is the next celebrity to receive accusations of school bullying.
On March 2nd, posts about Kim Ji Soo as an alleged school bully circulated on several online platforms. The alleged victim shared that they attended the same middle school as Kim Ji Soo from 2006 to 2008. He also shared evidence of him attending the same school.
According to the anonymous victim, Kim Ji Soo would hang out with delinquents and that he was a perpetrator of school violence. If any of the delinquents were displeased with another student, they would beat that person, even going as far as trampling their target. The delinquents, including Kim Ji Soo, also forced their classmates to get them cigarettes and threw food at other students during lunch.
The alleged victim narrated more on how he ended up as one of Kim Ji Soo's groups victim. It all started when he tried to stop the delinquents from stealing another student's gift certificate. From that moment onwards, he was bullied, insulted, blackmailed and more. The alleged victim also stated that what he had experienced was not as severe as other victims but that he would not write about those situations out of respect for other victims' privacy. He stated that he posted this not to get an apology or any sort of compensation because it already happened, and he believes that any apology he receives will not be sincere. The only thing he wants is for Kim Ji Soo to always carry the title of "School Violence Perpetrator" for the rest of his life, in order to realize that his victims would not forget the pain that they have experienced for the rest of their lives.
Other alleged victims also came forward and shared how they were bullied and sexually assaulted by Kim Ji Soo.
The actor's agency KeyEast Entertainment released their official statement about the allegations:
"Hello. This is Keyeast.
This is our position on the content in the posts about our actor Ji Soo that are being spread around online communities.
We are looking at this incident seriously and will do our utmost to verify the facts.
First, as a very long time has passed since the time that is being addressed, we ask for your understanding about needing time to verify the truth.
We will receive reports through email ([email protected]) about this matter and collect the information as is without distorting anything. Moreover, if the creator of the posts and the others who came forward will allow, we would like to directly hear their thoughts.
In addition to confirming the facts, the agency and our actor will do our best to resolve this matter. We apologize for causing concern to many people.
However, apart from this issue, we earnestly ask you to avoid creating and posting parts that have not been confirmed from the information that is being spread indiscreetly.
Thank you. "
As Kim Ji Soo is starring in the currently airing KBS drama "River Where the Moon Rises, the channel is also planning on releasing a statement. Kang Byung Taek CP shared on March 3rd, "We are in talks on how we will respond with these allegations. Today is the official day off (they are celebrating the establishment's anniversary) for the broadcasting station, we will have a meeting and thoroughly discuss the controversy by tomorrow".
For the past few weeks, many celebrities have been accused of being bullies in the past. With this, their current endorsements, variety programs and drama appearances were affected. They are being dismissed from brand sponsorships, edited and removed from any variety show appearances and even having their upcoming dramas postponed. Kim Ji Soo's school violence controversy might also affect his currently airing drama "River Where the Moon Rises". The drama starring Kim Ji Soo and Kim So Hyun is pre-filmed.
