GOT7's Youngjae is caught in school bullying allegations after a netizen made an accusation in a community post. The GOT7 member was quick to air his side through his agency.
According to a report by All Kpop, an anonymous poster recently drew attention when he dropped the name of GOT7's Youngjae as a school bully. The accuser claimed that he was Youngjae's classmate from Mokpo Technical High School. He said that he suffered from hearing and learning disabilities. The netizen said that Youngjae was a bully who was prone to hitting people and stealing their possessions.
Through JYP Entertainment's statement, Youngjae rebutted claims of school bullying and explained his side of the story. According to the label, Youngjae clarified that there was one incident wherein a conflict broke out in Youngjae's class. He admitted that it went as far as physical collision but denied that it was a regular thing. Youngjae said that after the altercation, they were able to resolve their differences and made up.
For their part, JYP debunked the claim of the netizen that he tried to get in touch with the label to discuss the matter. They said that they did not receive any emails from the individual. They said that they also attempted to contact Youngjae's former classmate to investigate the matter but they did not receive a response from the accuser.
This was not the first allegation of school bullying to be lodged against a Kpop idol. It can be recalled that NCT 127's leader Taeyong was plagued by school bullying allegations last year. After meeting up with his former classmate to apologize, he was later accused of being insincere about his actions.
A report by SCMP indicated that after battling through calls for his expulsion from NCT 127, the idol was cleared of the scandal after screenshots of the chat messages between Taeyong and his schoolmate surfaced online.
Another recent bullying incident that caught the attention of the Korean entertainment industry was former AOA Mina's revelations that she was bullied by AOA leader Jimin the whole time that she was part of the group.
Mina posted evidence that she tried to harm herself multiple times because of Jimin's poor treatment. She even posted chat messages showing the latter's callous behavior. As a result, Jimin announced her departure from AOA and her retirement from the entertainment industry. Mina continues to receive treatment for her mental health issues.
