School violence is something every student is taught not to do; that does not mean that it does not happen. In February, school violence rumors and accusations against numerous public figures, mostly Korean pop (K-pop) artists, emerged through online community websites and social media platforms. While not every rumor is set to be true, some celebrities owned up to their past and apologized. However, the fuming public is still questioning whether they should be severely ostracized, or apologize and then continue to grow their very public career.
How It Began and How It is Unfolding
Two major factors may have sparked February’s string of bullying accusations. The first is that South Korea’s largest search engine, Naver, decided to remove their most- searched keyword chart on February 25. Until very recently, the chart displayed most-searched keywords that helped people stay up-to-date with the hottest issues. When the chart’s impending removal was announced by Naver, many victims may have become concerned; it meant that celebrities would get away with scandals better, since related keywords would no longer be on display to show what most people are discussing. Therefore, victims felt that it became a now-or-never situation and disclosed experiences of school violence from celebrities.
Also, the bullying scandal in the volleyball world contributed to victims’ sudden divulgence. Lee Jae- young and Lee Da-young, twin sisters and prominent volleyball players, were playing for the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders, a professional volleyball team in V-League. On February 10, an anonymous former teammate of theirs wrote online about being subjected to school violence by them, revealing the fact that the two had committed such severe acts. The post listed 21 allegations of their bullying, including threatening the anonymous writer with a knife. Moreover, it disclosed that at least three more victims exist. After admitting to being assailants, the two players were banned from obtaining coaching qualifications and suspended from the national team.
The reason this controversy is still gaining attention, however, is because, according to Professor Park Ji Hoon (School of Media and Communication), exposing celebrities has become a trend. Just like how the musical genre of trot became a trend in late 2020, exposing bullying scandals did too. Unfortunately, this means that, now, more people want to get involved in related news just for the sake of it. Consequently, a few celebrities, such as Chuu of K-pop group LOONA, were wrongly accused; the accusations damaged their reputations as well as undercut the severity of school bullying in the process. In response to the confirmed fake allegations, entertainment companies declared to take legal action towards the people who posted such misinformation.
Bright Spotlight on Celebrities
One’s life and success as a K-pop artist is extremely fragile — talent, hard work, looks, capable management, good press often have to fall into place for an artist to even begin to be successful. Therefore, losing the general public’s support, a critical aspect in a celebrity’s life, can seriously harm one’s future career. The series of bullying scandals has been doing just that to many guilty artists. The question is, can the ostracism of these public figures be justified?
Hyunjin, a member of the K-pop group Stray Kids, for instance, is a characteristic example. According to a former classmate of his, Hyunjin verbally abused them in middle school. When this scandal was first exposed, Hyunjin’s management company, JYP Entertainment, announced that they will further the investigation. After a few days, the company released an official statement saying that he “sincerely regrets and is self-reflecting on the fact that he hurt various people in middle school.” Later on, Hyunjin himself used the official Stray Kids Instagram account to post a handwritten apology towards his fans, and the company announced that he will be taking a hiatus from all the upcoming activities.
In the case of Hyunjin, his past actions were acknowledged, and measures were taken. However, the public is not over this scandal, and theirresponsesaremostlyoneof two opinions. Some say he should be forgiven and allowed to return to his career, while others say that he should not remain a public figure. The latter elaborate that school bullying is a serious issue, and that people who are in the spotlight should have a clean image and background as they are representing Korean culture as well as being a role model to many people. However, entertainment companies, as well as K-pop artists, do not know how their future will unfold or if they will eventually get in the spotlight. However, that is not an excuse for school bullying. On the other hand, others acknowledge that everyone makes mistakes when they are young, and that apologies exist so that forgiveness can ensue.
School bullying is a severe issue that is still ongoing, not only in the K-pop industry or in Korea, but around the world. According to a Korean government survey, “more than one out of 100 elementary and secondary students suffered some form of abuse at school in 2019.” Compared to other crimes, school bullying has a deeper effect as bullying has the motive of consciously harming others’ psyche. Therefore, it is critical that the quality of discourse surrounding it improves.
Although it may be a past incident, people are debating if celebrities should be forgiven for their bullying or not. It is true that everyone makes mistakes; however, the issue should notbecentralizedonwhodiditbut how perpetrators should learn from it and how victims’ process of recovery can be initiated and continued. Only these arguments will help move from the situation into finding a plausible, reasonable and tangible solution for the future. School bullying cases will always exist; however, action has to be taken. Things we do in the past follow us to into our future, so what should be done is living a more mindful life, thinking about the consequences of our actions.