Former Classmates Defend iKON’s Yunhyeong After Bullying Accusations Surface
Content Warning
iKON member Yunhyeong is the next idol to be hit with bullying accusations.
During the surge of bullying allegations made against Korean stars, the iKON member is the latest idol to be swept up in bullying rumors. An alleged former classmate of Yunhyeong is claiming to have been bullied by the iKON member during their middle school days and shared their story onto an online community.
I wrote this numerous times previously, but every time I tried his fans would always threaten me in some way to shut me up. I am gathering up the courage to write these words again because it seems like people are believing the victims’ stories these days.
In middle school, he would ruin the self-esteem of female classmates by rating their looks in front of them. YH, because of you life was so hard that I wanted to die.
He would frequently hangout with iljins (bullies, people with bad reputations.) There used to be a picture of him smoking cigarettes in the boys restroom, but it got deleted? I wondered to myself why I didn’t save that photo back them. I regret that decision because I know that one photo would have a bigger impact than all these words I’m writing right now.
— Alleged victim
They continued with their story by sharing that they weren’t the only victim, but that there were more.
Let’s be real, I’m not the only victim. I’m curious about the others…after you started attending the arts school, I heard that you cut off contact with everyone…I wonder if they have anything they’d want to expose? I heard that Cyworld is going to be revitalized and that makes me excited. No more, no less, I hope you receive the same amount of torment you put onto others.
— Alleged victim
After the alleged victim came forward with their story, however, numerous netizens claiming to be Yunhyeong’s former classmates refuted the bullying rumors. Here is what they revealed.
I was one of the female students in Song Yunhyeong’s class. I’m writing this because of his alleged bullying accusations. He wasn’t an iljin, but he wasn’t necessarily a smart model student either. However, he was pleasant friend…he got along with everyone. I didn’t have a close relationship with him so I don’t really have good or bad feelings towards him, but I hope these false bullying rumors don’t continue…
— Alleged former classmate
Here is another refutation made by another former classmate of the iKON member.
I am writing this after seeing the bullying allegations made against iKON’s Song Yunhyeong. I am also a female student that used to be in the same class as him and none of the stories are true. I know the person who wrote the allegations and even I want to know why they wrote such things…
It isn’t fair to Song Yunhyeong to receive all the blame when it isn’t true, which is why I’m refuting these claims. I have never heard Song Yunhyeong curse. He was a kind, normal middle school student. The only thing I can remember is that he enjoyed singing.
Many of his former classmates know that Song Yunhyeong was not a bully. I just wanted to be of a little help so I decided to write this!
— Alleged former classmate
This former classmate also stepped forward to debunk the rumors about Yunhyeong. He revealed why he believes the alleged victim made such claims against the idol member.
I am a male student that is a former classmate of YH. I will be referring to the alleged victim as ‘A.’
YH was a talented friend. He was liked by everyone and was popular. He wasn’t a bully or an iljin or a bad kid, but rather he was a naive insider.
He had a lot of acquaintances and a big network. However, I’m sure there were some friends he didn’t click with as much or had personal differences with. I think one of those people happened to be ‘A.’
I don’t think it’s fair that ‘A’ is using their personal differences to make up baseless rumors that can’t be proven. These accusations of school violence and YH being an iljin is ruining his reputation. He is being attacked with malicious rumors that were clearly written in anger. I felt bad for him, which is I am writing these words.
— Alleged former classmate
Another classmate shared their story of how the iKON member actually stood up against potential bullying situations.
During our middle school days, I have never seen YH be rude or disrespectful to his classmates. Whether privately or publicly, he never did that.
When his friends would bother others, he would actually step up and intervene by changing the subject. I respected this so much that I remember it clearly. That’s actually one of the reasons why I still like YH.
— Alleged former classmate
Several other netizens also claiming to be former classmates of Yunhyeong have shared their stories online, refuting all of the bullying allegations against the iKON member. YG Entertainment has yet to release a statement on the current situation.