By Dong Sun-hwa

Soojin, a member of K-pop girl band (G)I-DLE, denied on Monday that she had bullied her classmates when she was at school. The allegations against the star are the latest in a snowballing bullying scandal involving South Korean celebrities

Her denial comes two days after a woman, who identified herself as a sister of a victim of bullying, accused Soojin of forcing her sister and her friends to slap one another in the face and stealing money from them.

In recent days, allegations of bullying have also been levelled against Stray Kids member Hyunjin, Kim So-hye, a former member of IOI, and Loona member Chuu.

Soojin, 22, apologised for causing a stir but denied the accusations. “I thought she [the alleged victim] and I were close friends – I am ashamed to say this, but one time I cursed at her on the phone for breaking promises repeatedly and her sister scolded me for that,” Soojin wrote on fan community U CUBE, operated by her agency, Cube Entertainment. “I apologised, but after the incident, my friend and I drifted apart. But I never bullied her physically nor stole her belongings.”

She added: “I was one of the students who stood out. There were rumours about me. As a student, I put on inappropriate outfits for school and smoked cigarettes a few times out of curiosity, which I no longer do. I think what I did in the past was the seed of this incident.”

In response to another rumour, that she also bullied actress Seo Shin-ae when the two were attending the same school – Waw Middle School in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi province – Soojin said she had never even talked to the actress.

After the issue of her alleged bullying came to the fore, Seo, in a mysterious message, wrote, “None of your excuses,” on Instagram. Despite Soojin’s denial, many internet users did not seem to believe her, saying the two were not the only ones making such accusations against her.

“There are more people insisting that they were victims – why is Soojin not mentioning them?” one user commented.

Soojin debuted as a member of (G)I-DLE in 2018 with the song Latata. The six-piece act dropped their fourth EP, I Burn, in January.

Read the full story at The Korea Times

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