Actor Ji Soo is the latest celebrity to be accused of committing school violence and bullying other classmates during middle school.
A post uploaded by an anonymous netizen, identifying themselves a fellow classmate of Ji Soo’s at Seorabeol Middle School between 2006-2008, claimed that the actor was a delinquent and a bully during his school years.
Actor Ji Soo is a perpetrator of school violence.
I would like to talk about the school violence committed by Ji Soo, who is currently the main actor of KBS drama River Where the Moon Rises and has also appeared in various other movies and dramas. I was a classmate of his at Seorabeol Middle School from 2006-2008. Kim Ji Soo (Ji Soo’s real name) is on TV, pretending to be nice with that signature smile of his, but he is nothing more than a school violence perpetrator, a gangster, and a bully.
At that time, Kim Ji Soo was bigger than other students his age. In 2007, when we were in 8th grade, he was the top delinquent of the school and committed numerous evil acts.
Kim Ji Soo and his group of other delinquent friends had quite an organized daily routine. First, it was unacceptable if anyone contested Kim Ji Soo and his friends. Whenever one of his friends felt offended even just a little bit, they would come find you and unilaterally accuse you before beating, insulting, and stomping on you.
Smoking was a given. His group of bullies never bought the cigarettes themselves. They always ordered other classmates that they considered subordinates. Also, they never waited in line to get lunch.
When food they didn’t like, such as kimchi radish or cherry tomatoes were served for lunch, they would target other students. They would fling the food towards students around them by using their spoons or their mouth. I can still vividly see how they laughed amongst themselves when the food would land on others’ clothes or faces. It was the same smile that he uses on screens now.
The target of his food wasn’t random, and even if you were hit by accident, you weren’t allowed to look at the group. The moment you met his eyes, he would yell ‘Ah damn, this f**ker’ and slap you as he cursed you out.
Even though Kim Ji Soo and the other bullies were in different classes, when they wanted to sit next to each other in the cafeteria, they would take away seats from students who were already eating and sit down themselves.
In conclusion, I was bullied by Kim Ji Soo and his group of bullies during my third year in middle school in 2008.
It’s not enough to define everything by just the word bullying. Bullying, violence, intimidation, insults, and abusive language were all committed. The reason this all started was because one of the bullies in Kim Ji Soo’s group stole my gift certificate. I went to the bully who stole it and told him that I would report him to the police if he didn’t give it back.
This kind of behavior was against the rules of Kim Ji Soo’s crowd. Since then, my once normal middle school life became one of horror. Maybe because I said I would report them to the police, but they were careful with me. They used other classmates to harass me so that they won’t be can get away if necessary. Those that he sent would consistently curse me out.
— Netizen
The netizen continued, stating that Ji Soo would consistently curse out other classmates and even include their parents in his curses.
Cursing me out like ‘You tattletaling b*stard **,’ ‘You ****, can’t do anything by yourself,’ ‘**’, and ‘b*tch’ were common. They would go further with remarks like ‘F**k, you have no mother (using vulgar slang for the word mother)’ or ‘[Your] mother is a ****.’
Among them were people who I had considered friends up until then. We used to play soccer and basketball together just a few days before. Kim Ji Soo and his friends were waiting for the opportunity where I would get angry and hit a fellow classmate that they sent. If I threw the punch first, they planned to use that as an excuse to beat me up. And if the police came, they planned to claim that I was the one who started it with the first punch.
His group of bullies announced to the school, ‘If anyone talks or hangs out with [me], they’re f*cking dead.’ Afterward, classmates wouldn’t even respond when I said, ‘Hello.’ Kim Ji Soo and his loyal subordinates would come by my classroom more than 10 times a day to curse me out.
I couldn’t go anywhere in school except the classroom where other students were also experiencing the same thing. Not the hallway, bathroom, or cafeteria. When I would run into him in the stairwell, he would push me into the corner and curse me out.
‘You f**king tattletale’
‘[Ji Soo’s friend] is so pitiful. He got bit by this b***h.’
‘You have no mom? But all you have is a lot of pride, so thoughtless.’
I’m used to hearing things like while being hit on the back of my head or face.
I would get bullied like his if I ran into one of them, so it was even more dangerous in the cafeteria. I was so scared to be near them that during that year, my friend and I would eat our cup ramyun for lunch behind the classroom television.
I also remember our ball game competition. Our class was playing against the class of two members from Kim Ji Soo’s bully group, and all of the other classmates booed at us and cursed at us from the playground or their class windows.
The sound of everyone booing at us… was really horrible.
At that time, I was playing goalkeeper, and the bullies cursed at me from a nearby bench, just loud enough so that I could hear. Kim Ji Soo threatened me, ‘Hey puppy, if you block the ball, you’re dead. Block it if you want to die. You f**king b***h.’
Kim Ji Soo would also carry a BB Gun to shoot at other students. He used to ride the bus home, so when he got on the bus, he would sit in the farthest back seat, open the window, and shoot his BB gun at other students who were headed home. And he would laugh that signature laugh of his.
What I wrote only summarizes what I’ve been through personally. There are so many other people who have been even more severely harassed in school because of him. There are stories that I wanted to share, but I didn’t as I don’t want them to be harmed by it.
To be honest, my case can’t be considered too bad when compared to the other victims. But just because other people had it worse than me doesn’t mean that my sufferings are negligible.
I had a lot of worries writing about Ji Soo, who has a big agency and is a popular actor. But I find it repulsive that a perpetrator of school violence, bullying, and scaring people in such a vicious manner, is now pretending to be kind and living off the popularity that comes with it.
Whenever I happen upon an article or interview about him, I just laugh. He must have amnesia if he can so easily forget about his past.
I don’t want an apology or restitution. It’s already happened, and I don’t want an apology for something irreversible. I don’t think it would be sincere either. There’s just one thing that I want.
Kim Ji Soo. If you want to act, do it. But if you do, you need the title of School Violence Perpetrator before your name for the rest of your life. The memories of so many people you’ve bullied, like me, will never be forgotten. Pretending to be innocent and kind and a good person. I can’t bear seeing it.
Only act on the screen.
— Netizen
In response to the plethora of accusations, Ji Soo’s agency KeyEast simply stated they were looking into them.
