ENTERTAINMENT
Shim Eun-woo, suspected of being a school bully, "Stigma, upsetting and difficult"
On the 24th, Shim Eun-woo posted a condolence message on his online account. Shim Eun-woo began by saying, "I'm going to talk about something very difficult to talk about today. I have no idea what kind of situation will unfold before me later. I think it will probably get even more difficult."
He said, "Yes. It has been more than two years since I have been labeled as a 'school violence perpetrator' and a 'school violence actor'. Since the day the drama 'The Glory' aired in January of this year, I have been labeled as the second Yeonjin. “It ran,” he said. He continued, "I'm not a famous actor, so I think there are many people who don't know about this. In March 21, I was pointed out as a perpetrator of school violence, and I later apologized to that friend."
Shim Eun-woo said, "What my friend anonymously reported to me was, '17 years ago this year, when I was in my first year of middle school, I was bullied by Park So-ri (real name Shim Eun-woo). After fighting with Park So-ri, who was a popular member of the school, and the group, Gina I swore at everyone when I met them, started alienating them, alienated them from my close friends, couldn't take the bus because of the bullying from the group I went with, had my parents take me to school for two years, was scared to go to class, couldn't eat properly, couldn't go to academy, etc. It was a difficult time. Eventually, I transferred to another school in my third year of middle school, and after that, I transferred several times and had a difficult time at school. My father sent me to a Hapkido academy, and my family also had difficult days. Currently, I am receiving psychiatric counseling, and it is still having problems with my life. “I am speaking with courage. This message will never be deleted and I hope for a sincere apology,” he said. He continued, “There was a process between coming across this article and issuing a public apology 20 days after it was published,” and “When I first came across the article, I had no idea who the writer was, and through a friend who contacted me, I found out that the author was there.” “Once I heard who it was and knew who it was, I asked for that friend’s contact information without hesitation, got the contact information of that friend’s older sister, and ended up talking to her.” At the same time, he said, "I will not just deny and ignore the words of the person who was hurt by me and has been having a hard time just because I don't remember it, but I thought without a doubt that it was right to listen to the person's story first, so I contacted him right away. Later, I said, 'I don't remember. “If he doesn’t show up, I have to file a complaint. I came back angry, wondering ‘Why and how did you know and call me?’” he explained.
Shim Eun-woo said, "The content of the phone call with that friend's older sister at the time was like this. I'm really sorry that I don't remember. I'm really sorry, but if I talked to that friend in detail and found out that I really hurt that friend, I sincerely apologize now." I want to apologize. He said, “My younger brother doesn’t want to talk to me or see me.” He continued, "The next day after the phone call, countless articles were posted on internet portals alleging school violence, and I couldn't even have any conversation with that friend. Since I and my agency at the time couldn't unconditionally admit something I didn't remember, we had no choice but to deny it. “Unlike our intention, it led to a truth battle,” he confessed.
Shim Eun-woo said, "At the time, I had been filming the drama 'Fly, Butterfly' for 6 months. I was scared and afraid of the situation where everyone on the drama team was being harmed by me and the pressure of whether I had committed school violence or not. And I had to be cautious. “I thought about it over and over again,” he said. He continued, "As someone who participates in a drama that makes me see my past and present self and depicts the story of people who try to love me from now on, I wonder if this truth battle that I don't know when will end is right or am I doing it right? Is this right? A frog gets hit by a stone that was carelessly thrown. As the saying goes, “If I did something like that, I think I should apologize.” He said, "The drama team could have pulled me out of the drama as an actor suspected of school violence, but they agreed to apologize so as not to damage that friend's feelings and chose not to let me out, and the producer personally visited the friend's parents' house in Donghae. I met him and apologized repeatedly, and with the intention that he did not want to meet me, the PD and my agency at the time met with him and his sister in person and apologized, and I sincerely apologized in a public apology on my Instagram at the time. And I apologized. “That’s how school violence was recognized,” he confessed.
Shim Eun-woo said, "After that, I looked back on my life every day. When I was in school, of course, I was not a model student. If I had been, there wouldn't have been issues like this. Moreover, I will truly confess that especially in my first year of middle school, I was more greedy, selfish, and jealous than others. “I wanted to stand out, but I was a person who was truly lacking,” he said. He continued, "But I still can't tell him exactly why he first got into a fight with that friend who was in a different class. I can't tell him who the other group of people he remembers are, and I've never been in the same class as him, so I'm afraid of all the things I was afraid of going into the class with. I wonder if the arrow was me. In second grade, I became distant from the friends I used to hang out with at the time and made other friends. I don't know if it was me or one of the group that I remember who continued to bully me until that friend transferred to a new school in third grade. Why are they still in that group to this day? Not a single one of them, not a single one of the new friends I made since 2nd grade and who stuck with me every day, remembers that friend. They say they were bullied by a group of people on the bus, and it wasn't me, but it's only because they remember that I was the one who initiated it. I wonder if this was directed at me. So my parents took me to school for two years and made me attend Hapkido, and I even transferred schools in the third grade.
Why didn't that short phone call come to my house? My family didn't run a chicken restaurant, so what happened to this memory? He was aggrieved, saying, “I don’t know anything.” He also said, “Ever since I saw a musical performance in my second year of middle school, I have dreamed of practicing singing every day after school and staying busy, so there was no reason to persistently harass one person. “It’s just frustrating,” he complained.
Shim Eun-woo emphasized, "Nevertheless, I don't want to deny everything. If I am in that friend's difficult memories even just once, I sincerely apologize. I was sincere then and still am sincere." He complained, "However, it is very upsetting and difficult that my entire school days were mistaken for being a perpetrator of school violence, and now I have been stigmatized as a person like Yeonjin, the second Yeonjin of The Glory who has brutally inflicted physical harm."
Shim Eun-woo said, "I also believe that school violence should be eradicated. I am a person who believes that the bad people in 'The Glory' should be punished, but I have lived harder than anyone else, especially I have worked hard for my dream of becoming an actor. He expressed his sense of injustice by saying, "All my time is denied by a single anonymous comment, I am asked to spend endless self-reflection without knowing who is judging, I am not given the opportunity to work, and I am attacked by countless people whose faces I do not know." Also, "There were numerous posts with malicious comments. I thought it was only right for a person with a well-known face, so I left Instagram and deleted comments so they wouldn't be visible to me. But I also have parents and a family. From now on, Gina He predicted a strong response, saying, “I will not go and report it for punishment.”
Shim Eun-woo confessed his inner thoughts, saying, "I've been writing this article for a long time after countless worries, but I'm wondering if this article is taking me into an endless tunnel. I'm wondering if I'll never be able to return as an actor. I'm so afraid." He also said, "The Butterfly writer, the director, all the actors and staff. I'm truly sorry beyond words. I'm so sorry for everyone. I want to get along well. I'm really sorry if there are people who have been hurt even a little in the past due to my always falling short. I love my mom, dad, and family." “People, I’m so sorry. I love you.”
In March 2021, an article was posted on an online community saying that he was bullied by Shim Eun-woo in middle school. According to author A's claim, Shim Eun-woo did not lead to physical violence, but extreme emotional violence. Surrounding him with his group and swearing was basic, and he created a wedge between Mr. A and his close friends through false information. Because of this, Mr. A is said to have had a difficult time at school, having transferred schools several times.
◆ Below is the full text of Shim Eun-woo’s article.
hello
I'm going to talk about something very difficult to talk about today. I have no idea what kind of situation will unfold before me in the future. I think it will probably get even more difficult.
yes. It has been more than two years since I have been labeled as a ‘school violence perpetrator’ and a ‘school violence actor’.
Since the day the drama 'The Glory' aired in January of this year, they have been labeled as the second Yeonjin.
I'm not a famous actor, so I think there are many people who don't know about this.
In March 21, I was pointed out as a perpetrator of school violence.
Afterwards, I apologized to that friend.
What my friend anonymously accused me of
As of this year, 17 years ago, when I was in my first year of middle school, I was bullied by Park So-ri. After fighting with Park So-ri, who was a popular member of the school, and the group, he swore at her when he met her in passing, started estrangement from him, alienated him from his close friends, and couldn't ride the bus due to the bullying of the group he went with. His parents took him to school for two years and made it difficult for him to go to class. I was scared, couldn't eat properly, couldn't go to academy, etc. I had a difficult time, and eventually I transferred to another school in my third year of middle school. After that, I had to transfer schools several times and had difficult school days. My father sent me to a Hapkido academy, and my family had difficult days. sent. I'm currently receiving psychiatric counseling and I'm still having trouble getting on with my life, so I muster the courage to talk about it. I will never delete this post and hope for a sincere apology. It was an article called.
There was a process between reading this article and issuing a public apology 20 days after it was published.
When I first came across the article
I had no idea who the person who wrote the article was, and I was told by a friend who the author was. Once I found out who it was, I asked for that friend's contact information without hesitation and was given the contact information of her older sister. I had a call
Rather than denying and ignoring the words of a person who was hurt by me and said he was having a hard time just because I don't remember, I thought without a doubt that it was right to listen to what he had to say first, so I contacted him right away. Later, I said, 'If you don't remember, sue. But I come back angry, thinking, 'Why did I know about it and how did I call?'
The content of the phone call with my friend's older sister at the time was as follows.
(I'm really sorry that I don't remember. I'm really sorry, but I talked to that friend and found out in detail, and if I really hurt that friend, I want to sincerely apologize now - my younger brother doesn't want to talk to me or see me.)
The next day after the phone call, numerous articles were posted on internet portals alleging school violence, and I couldn't even have any conversation with that friend. Since I and my agency at the time could not unconditionally admit something that I did not remember, we had no choice but to deny it.
So, contrary to intention, it led to a truth battle.
And at that time, I had been filming the drama ‘Fly Fly Butterfly’ for 6 months.
I was scared and afraid of the situation where everyone on the drama team was being harmed because of me and the pressure of whether or not I had committed school violence. And I thought about it carefully.
As someone who participates in a drama that makes me see my past and present self and tells the story of people who try to love me from now on, is this truth battle that I don't know when it will end? Am I doing it right? Is this right?
As the saying goes, “A frog gets hit to death by a stone thrown carelessly,” I think I should apologize if I did something like that.
The drama team could have pulled me out of the drama as an actor suspected of school violence, but they agreed to apologize and chose not to let me out so that the friend's feelings would not be lost.
The producer personally visited the friend's parents' house in Donghae and apologized repeatedly, saying that he did not want to see me.
PD and my agency at the time
I met that friend and sister in person and apologized.
I sincerely apologized in a public apology on my Instagram at the time. And the apology became an acknowledgment of school violence.
After that, I looked back on my life day by day. Of course, I wasn't a model student during my school days. If I had been, there wouldn't have been issues like this. Moreover, I will truly confess that, especially in my first year of middle school, I was more greedy, selfish, and jealous than others, and I wanted to stand out, and I was a person who was sorely lacking.
But I still can't tell my friend why I first got into a fight with that friend who was in a different class, or who the other groups he remembers are, and I was never in the same class as him, but everything that was scary about entering the class has disappeared. Is it me? Starting in second grade, I became distant from the friends I was hanging out with at the time and started making other friends. I don't know if it was me or one of the group of people who continued to bully me until that friend transferred to a new school in third grade. Why is it that, to this day, not a single person among that group, not even a single one of the new friends I made since second grade and have stuck with me every day, remembers that friend?
They say they were harassed by a group of people on the bus, but it wasn't me. I wonder if the arrows are pointed at me only because they remember that I was the one who initiated it. So, my parents took me to school for two years and made me attend Hapkido, and I even transferred schools in the third grade.
Why didn't that short phone call come to my house? My family didn't run a chicken restaurant, so what happened to this memory? I don't know anything. Ever since I saw a musical performance in my second year of middle school, I've dreamed of singing every day after school and kept myself busy, so there was no reason to persistently harass one person, so it was just frustrating.
Nevertheless, I don't want to deny everything. I sincerely apologize if I am in that friend's difficult memories even once. I was sincere then and I still am sincere.
But my entire school days
Misunderstood as a perpetrator of school violence
Currently, it is very upsetting and difficult that Yeonjin, the second member of The Glory who has brutally inflicted physical harm, has been labeled as someone like Yeonjin.
I also believe that school violence should be eradicated. I am the same person who believes that the bad guys in The Glory should be punished.
Like anyone else, I have lived harder than anyone else, but especially all the times I worked hard for my dream of becoming an actor are negated by a single anonymous comment, and I am asked to spend time in self-reflection with no end in sight, without knowing who is judging, and I am not given the opportunity to work, and my face is lost. I am attacked by countless people I don't know.
A lot of malicious comments... I thought it was only right for a person with a well-known face, so I left Instagram and deleted comments so that I couldn't see them, and that's how I've been doing it until now. But I also have parents and family. From now on, I will not pass by and report it for punishment.
Now, after countless worries,
Although I've been writing this for a long time,
I wonder if this article will take me further into an endless tunnel...
I wonder if I will never be able to return as an actor. I am so afraid.
Butterfly writer, director, all actors and staff
I'm truly sorry that I can't express it in words.
I'm so sorry for everything... I want to get along well.
I am truly sorry if there are people who have been hurt even a little in the past due to my shortcomings.
mom and dad
family and loved ones
I'm so sorry... I love you
Kim Ji-won, Ten Asia reporter bella@tenasia.co.kr
