Son Seok Gu Takes Legal Action Against School Violence Rumors + Shares Personal Statement

Sep 09, 2021

On September 9, actor Son Seok Gu posted a personal statement on Instagram announcing that he had taken legal action against rumors that he had been a perpetrator of school violence.

His agency had already denied the rumors, which alleged that he had bullied other students in middle school, and announced plans for legal action.

Son Seok Gu’s statement on Instagram reads:

I have restored my Instagram account because there was something I really wanted to say. First, I would like to state that I wrote this myself of my own free will. It is not someone else’s opinion, so if you would take the time to read it, I would be grateful.

On August 31, there was a post claiming that I had perpetrated school violence on Twitter. If you’ve seen it, then you know what I am talking about (but if not, I have shared a screenshot of the tweet in a separate post on my Instagram). I will not give the satisfaction of even a response like “I did not do this” to an anonymous post that showed no evidence and did not even clearly state any victims. At the very least, I know what kind of background I grew up in, so before I move on to the main subject, I want to state here that I am not ashamed to stand before the parents who raised me.

The day after the post was made, I felt myself being daunted by the number of articles that were being published without having verified what was true or false. There were articles and comments that contained criticism and ridicule, and I was dispirited by my interpersonal relationships turning suddenly awkward. At one point, I started to doubt myself and wondered, “If I am so easily misunderstood like this, doesn’t mean that I did something wrong?” That was the moment that I felt most dejected. I felt severely that something had gone badly wrong.

In a society where online public opinion can quickly become strong, the few words that are spit out by anonymous posters are like those who cause hit-and-run traffic accidents without a license plate. The online space is being polluted by those who make posts and don’t have to take responsibility for what they write. As a result, when actual victims of assault and violence speak up, they can be treated like the boy who cried wolf. The responsibility for those people lies with us, who speak and believe without thinking. That tweet was an issue related to me, but it is also a societal problem that we must all think about at some point, and therefore I believe that it’s not something that I can take lightly and pass over.

As of today (September 9, 2021), I have collected detailed evidence and submitted a complaint to the police. It might take some time for the results to come out, but for those who can understand the scope of the problem, I hope that you will continue to monitor the situation.

Thank you for reading this.