Article: (G)I-dle Soojin addresses bullying accusations...demands Seo Shin-ae "clarify her position"
Source: Sports DongA
(G)I-dle's Soojin is maintaining her innocence over claims of school bullying.
On the 19th, Soojin denied allegations of bullying and abuse by 10 victims and stated, "victim changed their stance when we met up face-to-face after giving distorted claims when interviewed by media."
When asked about suspicions of bullying actress Seo Shin-ae, she stated, "I'm confident so I hope Seo Shin-ae will give a clear position on her part."
She added, "I sincerely apologize to all those who were affected by this incident. I want to clarify all the rumors and allegations about me."
NOTE: Soojin's statements have been translated as written and shared through the media
No. 1-6 are my positions on the first accuser (the IG accuser, older sister [unni] of victim 'B')
1. How did I know who 'B' was
Long before the revelation article was posted, I received a call from an alum that the first accuser was looking for my photo. Since B and I were close for a while in school, I still remember the name of her unni so when they first mentioned her name in Wikitree IG, I was able to guess who she was from her user ID.
I want to clarify that it's not because I bullied her that I recognized her name.
2. The retraction of the platelet story
When B first posted, she insisted the victim was going in and out of the hospital because of the stress I caused her from bullying that led to platelet reduction. But when I met up with B's unni with my agency rep, she told me the disease was from 3rd grade long before the claims I abused her in school so of course it seemed I wasn't the cause of her illness.
From her "reversals" from our meet up in person, it was clear I wasn't the cause of B's illness so after that came out, public opinion changed and that's how the platelet story got deleted.
3. Phone argument
First off, I sincerely apologized to B again and again when we met up for cursing her over the phone. However, there's nothing to admit to regarding the "juice incident."
In my first statement, I said I remember the phone call and said I didn't' remember the juice incident that she had described in detail. I can see how this can be confusing to anyone that was reading it so I accept responsibility for that. This is what I remember from back then.
B and I had promised to met up that day but B never showed up. I waited for her for a long time and when I called her she suddenly said she couldn't come. This wasn't the first time B canceled a scheduled meeting so I lost my temper and cursed her on the phone. That's when she passed the phone to her unni (an adult) who swore and scolded me ( a middle schooler) so I apologized and hung up. Her unni never once referenced the juice incident and there was no chance for me to explain to her why we were arguing. B said she received money from her unni to give to me but I never received it. Since that call our relationship became distant.
I never once bullied or abused 'B' or extorted money from her. B even admitted to the conversation how I said it and her unni seemed to confirm everything I said was correct on her IG live."
4. Regarding the scolding during PE (gym class)
Her unni is claiming that during gym class 'B' laughed when a student (Oh XX) called another student by the wrong name and I scolded B for it in the hallway in front of the school bathroom where a lot of students were present. Oh and I were friendly classmates and Oh never told me anything like that happened even after checking with her.
We had one gym teacher at the time and Oh and Kim weren't in the same grade so there's no way they would've been in same gym class. I even checked with classmates I was still in contact with and none of them remember the incident even though her unni is claiming this happened in front of a lot of people.
5. About the DMs and hakpok committee mentioned as evidence
It's true my mother was called to the school for a hakpok [school violence] committee but it was for something that had nothing to do with me. So can it really be said I admitted to facing a school violence committee when it had nothing to do with me? I remember my mother coming out of the conference room in tears and was never once brazen in her speech and manners. The teacher even announced to classmates in private that I hadn't committed any wrong doing.
When B and I met up, I asked her about the committee hearing and she had no reply. Just a long period of silence and said she knew nothing about my mother and had posted something she didn't know of and dragged my family into it. Even after I clearly explained to B, the hakpok had nothing to do with me from what the committee judged in the private meetings 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 why the first meeting was with agency reps and I wasn't present
When B's unni uploaded her first post, the agency DM'd me asking for a face-to-face meeting. But B's unni said B was uncomfortable and refused to meet, so the agency respected her wishes and suggested she meet with agency reps instead. I wanted to speak to B in person too but the DM said she was uncomfortable so I respected her wishes. I wasn't trying to avoid a face-to-face confrontation.
When B and I met face-to-face, she acknowledged that I was the first to request an in-person meeting.
7. The friend I did "dance" with on graduation day
I remember being friends with this person from our third year of school until graduation day but we lost contact after that. We never hung out together in school but I do remember hanging out once after school ended. We were close enough that I knew her family's situation.
It's not true that I called this friend over two days before graduation under the excuse of sharing a meal together to practice choreography. We had rehearsed at my house for about a month and a half before that. My father remembers this person well and even remembers the situation where the person living downstairs contacted us to complain about the noise. We exchanged songs through email for several months. I have evidence of this still in my inbox.
8. About Seo Shin-ae's IG post
As I wrote in my first statement, I have never spoken with actress Seo Shin Ae during our time at school. Before this issue began, I had no idea even which class she was in. I have never committed acts like putting cigarettes in her desk or stealing her graduation letters.
I know nothing about Seo Shin Ae and this was the first time that I had heard such rumors about her and me. I have never bullied her or cursed at her behind her back. Every time that I release a new statement, Seo Shin Ae has shared a post around the same time, so many people wrongly believe that I bullied her.
My agency has contacted her agency, but has gotten no response. I am not guilty, so I strongly request Seo Shin Ae to release a clear statement about the issue.
9. About the padded coat
I don't really know how to explain this incident since it never happened but I can explain why the accusers claims are hard to believe.
- I never bullied this person in our first year of school by slapping them on the cheek or coloring on their padded coat with a marker. This person wrote that "when I bullied them, a friend witnessed the incident and helped them." I checked with this friend directly and they said they have no memory of this.
- Netizens asked the accuser for proof I had ruined their jacket but the accuser said they had sold the item recently. This means a 10 yr old defaced jacket had been sold recently?
- Netizens asked the accuser to get in contact with the buyer and get a photo of the coat but the buyer responded that the marker had been erased at the time of purchase meaning she sold the jacket without the marker? Even in the one-on-one chats with buyer no damage was mentioned. How can a jacket with 10 year old stains easily get erased in the laundry? It's also hard to believe that someone kept marker stains that I allegedly left from like 10 years ago?
- When the information about the coat was uploaded on the secondhand website, it showed that the coat wasn't from my time in middle school. The accuser explained they had uploaded the wrong information thinking it was the same product. When people asked for clarifications after explaining how to correctly identify the coat's production date, the accuser went quiet.
- This same person said they were in 2nd class and I was in 1st class in our third year when they first wrote up their post. They claimed that my class was full of troublemakers and the student's dean was the homeroom teacher at the time. But that's not true. I was in 2nd class (not 1st) and my homeroom teacher was the English teacher (not the Dean). Furthermore, 1st class wasn't a class of troublemakers. The accuser then changed their statements multiple times and said they weren't sure whether it was 2nd or 5th class.
- The accuser claimed I came to their class often since I had a friend there but when I was in my 3rd year, all my close friends were in same class as me so I hardly ever visited other classes.
- Also, the 1st and 2nd class were on the same floor so it doesn't make sense when the accuser keeps saying I had to "come up" to their class. Everything is all lies.
10. Other accusations
I never made people slap each other or stole their money and belongings or sent bullying messages alienating a student from the group. It's not true. I can't give explanations on things that never happened. I never engaged in that kind of behavior during my time in school.
I knew how terrible it would look for a female idol to admit to smoking but I wanted to be honest about it all. I only smoked once or twice out of curiosity and I recognize my behavior was wrong, I'm sorry. I'll be collecting evidence and taking legal action against those that spread false rumors.
If it turns out I did something wrong, then I'll accept any punishment given and withdraw from the group. However, the real truth about what happened and did not happen will come to light.
- [+11,273, -259] She hasn't come to her senses yet. Her agency seems to have also lost their minds...
- [+5,388, -95] It's weird of her to say there was no school violence committee at first but then suddenly admit to attending one? It was a scandal big enough that a hakbang committee was created and her parents were called in and yet she's claiming it had nothing to do with her and it was resolved with a few meetings? I feel like she's trying to dump all of this on Seo Shin-ae when she should be providing all this "evidence" she has..
- [+4,565, -137] Enough with the clarifications, just go quietly now. Don't even think of trying to mess with Seo Shin-ae..
- [+3,505, -82] What more can there be to explain when its been confirmed she cursed B the minute she got her on the phone? She doesn't even treat the victim like they're human. Her attitude is controversial on its own. I hope the media don't write about her anymore because you can't fix someone like that..
- [+1,491, -96] If she's so "confident" why didn't she say that in the first place? Why is she only coming out now..?
- [+1,129, -12] Seeing how she's acting handling this scandal I'm honestly starting to believe she was a bully...
- [+922, -13] Seo Shin-ae came out as a victim of school bullying since her debut and has been campaigning to eradicate school abuse but never mentioned Soojin directly. Why is she attracting attention on her own demanding Seo Shin-ae clarify her statements? She's confident enough to talk to victims now but why does she keep putting Seo Shin-ae's name in her mouth? She's a victim of her violence, what is she expecting her to do? The more she comes out with these "statements", the more it seems like she's trying to guilt trip the victims since they have no material evidence...
- [+679, -6] Then why was she so quiet for a month? Looks like she was in talks with her lawyer and was waiting for the scandal to die down...
- [+559, -14] She's her senior in the industry and yet she's not asking but demanding..? Isn't this a threat?
- [+72, -5] Look's like they're going all out nowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Source: Kookmin Ilbo