Actor Lee Bum Soo’s Power Abuse Allegations Ruled Out In Shinhan University’s Investigation
Around December 2022, actor Lee Bum Soo, who was then teaching acting at Shinhan University, was accused of abusing his power and influence as a professor. An anonymous post written by an alleged student, stated that he often skipped classes and even discriminated against students based on their economic background. Lee was also the Department Dean Of Performing Arts at Shinhan University at that time.
The university conducted an internal investigation after the allegations surfaced. On February 24, Lee Bum Soo’s agency Big Punch Entertainment announced that the investigation has been concluded. According to the company’s statement, no evidence was found to support the allegations against the actor, and the investigator of the student’s union didn’t find any other reliable accusations from the student body.
The university suspended Lee Bum Soo from his roles as a professor and a dean on January 19, 2023. On January 27, Lee submitted his resignation, citing personal reasons. But at that time, his resignation was not processed due to the ongoing investigation. Since the matter has been concluded now, his resignation has been accepted by the university. Both his law firm, YK, and his agency re-emphasized that his resignation is not an admission of guilt but is a result of him choosing to prioritize his acting career.
Since the establishment of Shinhan University in 2012, Lee has done his best as a professor, establishing the curriculum of the newly founded Faculty of Performing Arts and recording a 50:1 entrance examination rate as the dean for the past five years. For the past four months, Lee has been silently enduring rumors and falsehoods that were recklessly spread by a report and faithfully responding to the university’s audit. Lee maintains that all accusations against him are baseless and that he is resigning from his post to focus on releasing a new film and a streaming service series.
—Big Punch Entertainment
