Over this past week, Dispatch came out with not one but two scathing reports about “The Glory” Breakout Star Kim Hieora accusing her of bullying former classmates and being part of a bullying group.
Let us go through the summary of the accusations against her!
Table of Contents
Note: this report does not go over the recently released voice recordings
Dispatch report accusing Kim Hieora of being a bully
On the 6th Of September, Dispatch reported that Kim Hieora was a former member of a schoolyard gang called ‘Big Sangji’ during her middle school days in Wonju, Gangwon Province.
They alleged that Kim Hieora was known for her involvement in the ‘Big Sangji’ online community, which had a reputation for activities such as extortion, physical violence, and verbal abuse. She had even posted messages directly on the ‘Big Sangji’ cafe, where these activities were discussed.
In May, Dispatch received a tip about school violence allegedly involving Kim Hieora. The tipster expressed shock at hearing the same insults from the ‘Big Sangji’ group in a drama. Dispatch decided to investigate the allegations of school violence involving Kim Hieora.
Allegations of school violence by celebrities are often challenging to prove, as there is usually little concrete evidence. Therefore, speaking with as many people as possible is crucial. It’s important to gather consistent testimonies.
Between May and June, Dispatch met with more than ten former students from the Girls’ Middle School, most of whom had experienced harm directly or indirectly. They argue that they selected cases with sufficient evidence, focusing on victims, bystanders, and community service.
Within the dispatch Report, Kim Hieora admitted to being part of ‘Big Sangji’ activities but vehemently denied any direct involvement in physical violence, “I was terrifying just because of my presence? I looked back on that time. I never hit anyone… Of course, it doesn’t mean I’m not responsible. I feel like I was more of a bystander.”
Kim Hieora did acknowledge her involvement in ‘Big Sangji’ activities but provided a different explanation than what the tipster had reported, “Yes, I didn’t live as a model student. We had fun, that’s true. But ‘Big Sangji’ wasn’t just a gang of bullies. At that time, it was trendy for close friends to create online cafes. ‘Big Sangji’ is the name of the cafe. It’s not a secret cafe only for bullies.”
In their report, Dispatch reveal they concluded their investigation a couple of months back but pushed its release date due to “The Uncanny Counter 2.” The investigation concluded in June. Kim Hieora expressed concerns about the impact on the drama “The Uncanny Counter 2” and requested not to cause any harm to the production due to her personal matters.
At that time, “The Uncanny Counter 2” was awaiting its scheduling. The production had already involved the hard work and efforts of numerous cast and crew members. This is why the report on school violence was postponed for three months.
Kim Hieora’s agency response to the 1st dispatch report
After initially stating they were looking into the report, Kim Hieora’s agency returned with a lengthy rebuttal to Dispatch.
Kim Hieora’s agency, Gram Entertainment, strongly refuted the allegations of school violence during her middle school days and warned that they would take strong legal action against the malicious spread of false information.
Gram Entertainment officially addressed the circumstances surrounding the emergence of the school violence allegations against Kim Hieora. This statement was issued shortly after the report was published.
The agency acknowledged that Kim Hieora, during her middle school days, joined a cafe named “BigOO,” which was created by friends. However, they emphasized that all the allegations presented in the report by the media were not true.
The agency stated, “While it is true that Kim Hieora, the actress, joined the cafe called ‘BigOO’ created by her friends during her middle school years and socialized with the members there, we want to make it clear that the content of the allegations reported by the media is not true.”
They further clarified, “The media reached out to us, stating that they had received reports related to Kim Hieora and expressed their desire to turn it into a news article. In order to clarify the situation where the memories of the actress and the informant conflicted, a meeting was arranged for the actress to talk about her memories at the time. The actress visited the media alone without the presence of agency staff and answered the questions candidly to address the allegations.”
The agency continued to emphasize, “Contrary to the provocative title of the article released today, Kim Hieora never engaged in activities with an ‘Iljin’ group nor was she involved in any school violence. We would like to reiterate that all of these facts were discussed by the actress during the meeting with the media.”
Additionally, they revealed that the informant who had contacted the media regarding Kim Hieora had clarified their statements and apologized to the actress. The informant also conveyed to the media that their initial statements were based on misunderstandings.
However, the agency expressed regret regarding the report from the media, which they believe contained speculative content despite multiple reports they had received to the contrary.
Finally, Gram Entertainment asserted that they would actively provide detailed information to refute these speculative and baseless allegations. They also stated that they would strongly respond to any malicious acts that could harm the reputation of their affiliated actors.
SNL Korea 4 cancels Kim Hieora’s scheduled episode
On the same day of the report release, Coupang Play announced the cancellation of Kim Hieora’s episode on ‘SNL Korea Season 4’ (hereinafter ‘SNL Korea 4’), which was scheduled to air on the 9th.
‘SNL Korea 4’ typically records on Thursdays and airs on Saturdays. Kim Hieora was slated to host the 9th episode scheduled for the 7th. However, it appears that her participation was canceled following the school violence-related report published on the same day.
Actress Kim Hieora personally Addresses School Violence Allegations
On the same day, Kim Hieora posted a lengthy message on her social media account, saying, “I apologize first for causing concern with a single article about me. I know many of you must have been surprised. I’m truly sorry to those who believed in me and supported me. I’m worried that this post may not prevent further misunderstandings or hurt, but many speculative articles are coming out, and there seem to be many questions about them. That’s why I’m writing this personally.”
She continued, “I was an immature person, and I still am. I wasn’t a student who studied hard or listened well to my parents or teachers. I was so ignorant that I didn’t even realize that just my presence could make someone uncomfortable. However, I want to emphasize that I did not torment the weak, act maliciously, persistently, or plan to do so, as mentioned in the article.”
Kim Hieora further stated, “ Even though I think about it a lot, it’s difficult to agree that school violence or being a member of a cafe called ‘BigSangji’ is equivalent to being an ‘Iljin’ (school bully). I never had such experiences, so I honestly denied it. Nevertheless, if someone was hurt because of me, I wanted to have a conversation and apologize, and if there were misunderstandings, I had the intention to clarify them.
The reporters helped me to contact the informant, and we had a conversation. During the conversation, the informant also apologized for the misunderstanding, and I informed the reporters that the information provided was not true. I explained that the things mentioned were not true, and I resolved misunderstandings with the informant, so I thought everything had been resolved. However, after seeing the article published today, I realized that it wasn’t resolved, and I also felt that the article contained many things that could cause more misunderstandings among people.”
She went on to say, “I have made mistakes since I was 15 years old, and I have tried not to repeat them by acknowledging those mistakes. I am insufficient in many ways, but I have never caused anyone harm with malicious intent.”
Kim Hieora concluded by apologizing again, saying, “I apologize once again to those who may have been hurt by me at this moment. And if I ever caused harm to anyone at a moment I cannot remember, I sincerely apologize. I will be more cautious and introspective in the future regarding other people’s lives and suffering.”
What do you think of Kim Hieora’s bullying rumors?
She said she was “just a bystander”.. So she was the one who usually stand in circle and watch the bullies harm the weak without trying to defend them. Those who usually cheer up and have fun during such spectacle.
It was her choice to leave the group but she did not do it. And even now she is trying to say that others are wrong or it is all a misunderstanding without offering a real remorse. Her only justification is that she was “immature”. She is not creating a good public image of herself and I don’t think I’ll watch any drama with her involvement in future.