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| Soojin, a member of K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE, denied bullying allegations raised against her, Monday. Courtesy of Cube Entertainment |
By Dong Sun-hwa
Soojin, a member of K-pop girl band (G)I-DLE, denied Monday that she had bullied her classmates when she was in middle school. The allegations against the star are the latest in a snowballing bullying scandal involving celebrities here.
Her denial comes two days after a person, who identified herself as a sister of a victim of bullying, accused Soojin of forcing her sister and her friends to slap one another in the face and stealing money from them.
Soojin, 22, apologized for causing a stir but said the accusations were untrue.
"I thought she (the alleged victim) and I were close friends ― I am ashamed to say this, but there was one time I cursed at her on the phone for breaking promises repeatedly and her sister scolded me for that," Soojin wrote on fan community U CUBE, operated by her agency Cube Entertainment. "So I apologized, but after the incident, my friend and I drifted apart. But I never bullied her physically nor stole her belongings."
She added, "I was one of the students who stood out. There were rumors about me. As a student, I put on inappropriate outfits for school and smoked cigarettes a few times out of curiosity, which I no longer do. I think what I did in the past was the seed of this incident."
In response to another rumor that she also bullied actress Seo Shin-ae when the two were attending the same school ― Waw Middle School in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province ― Soojin said she never even talked with the actress.
After the issue of her alleged bullying came to the fore, Seo, in a mysterious message, wrote, "None of your excuses," on Instagram.
Despite Soojin's denial, many people do not seem to believe her, saying the two were not the only ones making such accusations against her.
"There are more people insisting that they were victims ― why is Soojin not mentioning them?" one user commented.
Soojin debuted as a member of (G)I-DLE in 2018 with the song "LATATA." The six-piece act dropped its fourth EP "I burn" in January.
