Ji Soo's Agency Issues Statement In Response To School Violence Accusations

Ji Soo’s agency KeyEast has released a statement after the actor was accused of school violence.

On March 2, a post was uploaded to an online forum by someone accusing Ji Soo of being a perpetrator of school violence. The writer (hereafter referred to as “A”) stated that they went to the same middle school as Ji Soo from 2006 to 2008 and wrote, “Kim Ji Soo had a bigger build than the other kids his age at the time. Starting in his second year of middle school in 2007, he roamed the school as a delinquent and performed all sorts of bad deeds. The delinquents at the time, including Kim Ji Soo, were quite systematic. First of all, picking a fight with Kim Ji Soo and and the delinquents was unthinkable. If any member of that group experienced something even a little bit unpleasant, all of them would go and beat that person up, trampling over them in an insulting and thorough way.”

A claimed that Ji Soo and his friends forced his classmates to buy them cigarettes and threw food at other students during lunch and laughed.

A continued, “I was bullied by Kim Ji Soo and the delinquents in 2008, my third year of middle school. The word ‘bullying’ is not enough to describe everything. I was a victim of all kinds of school violence like being made an outcast, violence, blackmailing, insults, and abusive language. It started when B, one of the delinquents in Kim Ji Soo’s group, took another student’s gift certificate. I went to B and said I’d report them to the police if they didn’t return the gift certificate.

“This behavior of mine was an act of opposition. After that, my ordinary middle school life turned into horror itself. They were careful, perhaps because I told them I’d report them to the police. They craftily ordered other classmates to bully me so they could stay out of trouble.”

A wrote that the classmates who were ordered by the delinquents constantly came to pour highly offensive curse words at them and that the delinquents announced to the students at school that anyone who spoke to A would die at their hands. A explained that they could not freely walk around school out of fear of running into Ji Soo, who would allegedly curse at A and hit them on the head or cheek. A added that Ji Soo carried around a BB gun and fired it at students for fun.

A stated, “What I have written here is only what I have ‘directly’ experienced, and there are many more people who have gone through more serious cases of school violence perpetrated by Kim Ji Soo. I wanted to write a few of them here, but [the victim] may not want it, so I did not. Honestly, compared to what the other kids went through at the time, my experience is not much. But just because the other cases are more evil and severe, it doesn’t mean what happened to me should be regarded lightly.”

A lastly wrote, “What I want is not compensation nor an apology. Everything has already happened, and I don’t need an apology about something that cannot be reverted. And I don’t believe [the apology] would be sincere. There is just one thing I want. Kim Ji Soo. If acting is what you want to do, do it. But keep the title of ‘school violence perpetrator’ in front of your name forever in your heart. Like me, the countless number of people you bullied will never forget that memory.”

Following A’s post, two more people came forward about their experiences. One person claimed that Ji Soo had hit them constantly, and the other person stated that Ji Soo had verbally abused them.

Released March 3, KeyEast’s statement reads as follows:

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 (rpt@KeyEast.co.kr) about this matter and collect the information as is without distorting anything. Moreover, if the creators 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.

Ji Soo is currently starring in the drama “River Where the Moon Rises.”

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