HYBE’s Upcoming Girl Group LE SSERAFIM’s Kim Garam Accused Of School Bullying And More

As many are well aware, HYBE is preparing a new girl group. The group, called LE SSERAFIM, has already confirmed four members: Sakura and Kim Chaewon of IZ*ONE fame, Huh Yunjin from Produce 101, and Kim Garam. They unveiled Kim Garam through a series of concept photos and teasers.

Not a few days later, Kim Garam was quickly swept up in allegations of bullying. The matter was picked up on by Korean media outlets, such as Trendbiz. It started when many of her schoolmates began releasing her past photos. Due to the high amount of pre-debut images being published, a netizen @twit_bossss began to question if there was a reason for this.

But about LE SSERAFIM’s Kim Garam. As soon as [her debut] was publicized, f*cking many videos and photos from here, there, and everywhere began to be uploaded… Seeing as such, I wonder just what those kids that have just barely turned 18 went through in middle school [thanks to her] that they’re so determinedly wrathful.

— @twit_bossss

Another netizen quickly stepped up and claimed that they were from Kim Garam’s middle school. They accused Kim Garam of bullying.

I came from the same middle school as Kim Garam, and I’m someone who was kind of close to one of the kids that hung out with her. She really did all sorts of things back then. Light bullying, such as forbidding kids from passing by whenever she filmed TikToks in school, was a given, and if you happened to pass by, she would use strong curse words or glare at you.

She did whatever she wanted, but if she didn’t like something, she would f*cking scold you, and she would talk about you behind your back or to your face with her group while crossing her legs. She was a kid who enjoyed such day-to-day bullying… When she entered SOPA for high school, she cut ties with everyone from middle school. To keep things straight, she sent DMs to everyone on Instagram and Facebook to protect her image, and she also sent messages to everyone before she changed her phone number.

I don’t know if she did this to confuse people purposely, but she definitely said she was preparing to become an actress, so I don’t know why she suddenly changed to being in a girl group… It’s so funny because she probably knew that people would expose her because she did [wrong] things.

— @3tG7W2ps6JIXaIA

A screenshot of Kim Garam’s old Facebook account was also uploaded along with the accusations. The contents shocked with the captions on her selfies that read, “What do you think of [having] sex [with me] today?”

Her conversation with her friend about the images was as follows:

• Kim Chae On: “I’ll be your sex partner.”
• Kim Garam: “Aing, just message me on Facebook.”

Pre-debut photos of Kim Garam were released with accusations of her smoking as a minor.

Other pre-debut photos of Kim Garam were released as proof of knowing her back then.

There was even one from her elementary school days.

School photos were also released. The board behind Kim Garam and her friends was filled with explicit imagery and text.

A netizen on Twitter publicly asked for her acquaintances to send in information with proof.

• Netizen: “Why does everyone have Kim Garam’s old photos? I see you have a lot of information.”
• Alleged middle-schoolmate: “I came from the same middle school as her. She was famous in school back then. As the perpetrator who turned the kids in her year into outcasts.”
• Netizen: “Can you let me know about it in more detail?”
• Alleged middle-schoolmate: “If her juniors didn’t greet her, she would message them on Facebook separately and talk down to them. Smoking and drinking are also a given.”

• Netizen: “Do you have pictures of her smoking or drinking?”
• Alleged middle-schoolmate: “There are probably many people who have them but I don’t. But she was even so famous back then that other schools knew of her.”
• Netizen: “Are there any other happenings? Or other photos?”
• Alleged middle-schoolmate: [photo]
• Alleged middle-schoolmate: “She stole money too. She was a total thug.”

• Netizen: “This is all the truth, right?”
• Alleged middle-schoolmate: “It’s really the truth. I came from the same middle school as her so I got talked down to a lot. I felt it was so unfair that such a person gets to debut. You would know from all the pre-debut pictures being uploaded on Twitter and Facebook right now. There are so many people who have her pre-debut photos.”

A screenshot of an alleged Facebook message exchange between Kim Garam and a victim was also uploaded. In the message, Garam allegedly provokes the victim to pick up the phone while using curse words and death threats.

• Kim Garam: “Hey. If you reject [my calls] I’ll kill you LOL”
• Victim: “No.”
• Kim Garam: “Pick up, you f*cking b*tch.”
• Victim: “Please don’t call me. Please.”
• Kim Garam: “Why aren’t you picking up?”

HYBE has yet to give an official statement regarding the matter. LE SSERAFIM is slated to debut in 2022 with production by Bang Si Hyuk.