Kim Hieora refutes allegations that she was a school bully

South Korean actress Kim Hieora, of The Glory fame, has refuted allegations that she was a bully during her schooling days.

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Today (September 7), Kim Hieora addressed the claims made by South Korean news publication Dispatch that she was a school bully during her time at Sangji Girls’ High School.

Notably, Dispatch had claimed that the actress was a meber of “Big Sangji”, a group of students who were allegedly involved in extorting money from others, verbal abuse and physical abuse.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, the actress claimed on social media that she “did not persistently, with ill intentions and deliberate planning, bully the weak, like the article said”.

Kim Hieora also confirmed that she had spoken to Dispatch prior to the article’s publication, saying that she “hop[ed] that [my] sincerity would show if I spoke the truth”.

“Even in my 30s, I still don’t think I am perfect, so I listened to the reporter’s story and tried to remember the events related to it, thinking that my memories from when I was 15, when I was immature and imperfect, might not be everything,” she added.

“Nevertheless, no matter how much I thought about [my past], I couldn’t agree with the accusations that were being made based just on the fact that I was registered in Big Sangji’s Naver cafe [online community].”

The actress’ agency, GRAM Entertainment, has also released a statement to deny the allegations made by Dispatch. While the company also confirmed that Kim Hieora was a member of the Big Sangji group, it claims that “all the allegations that the news outlet reported are false”, per Sports Kyunghyang and translated by Soompi.

“Unlike the provocative title of the relevant exclusive article… she never engaged in school violence,” GRAM Entertainment alleged in their statement. “Unlike what was reported, the Big Sangji was not [a group of bullies], and there were many ordinary students who joined the cafe as well.”

“Kim Hieora gave an explanation to the outlet’s reporters at the time […] unfortunately, however, the relevant media outlet released a speculative report stating that [the original report] was based on numerous tip-offs,” it added.

Meanwhile, Dispatch has released a letter that was allegedly written by Kim Hieora, after interviewing her for the report. In it, the actress wrote that the interview “provided me an opportunity to reflect on my past actions that may have made me seem like a bully”, per SBS Star.

“I’m not saying that I was nice and kind, but I do acknowledge my immaturity,” she added. “Ever since I came to the realisation that those were wrong, I have made every effort to improve myself as a human being.”

Aisde from The Glory, Kim Hieora recently appeared in season two of the superhero K-drama series The Uncanny Counter.

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