Twenty-Five, Twenty-One star Nam Joo Hyuk’s agency denies school bullying allegations; to take strong legal action

South Korean star Nam Joo Hyuk's agency responded to school bullying allegations against the actor that sparked earlier today after an exclusive report by a Korean media outlet.

According to Korean tabloid Soompi, recently, a person claiming to have attended the same middle and high school as Nam Joo Hyuk reported to a media outlet that they were a victim of school bullying by the actor for six years. On June 20, the actor’s agency Management SOOP firmly denied the allegations and stated that they will be taking strong legal action against the reporter and the anonymous source.

“Hello. This is Management SOOP. We are informing you of our official stance regarding the article on actor Nam Joo Hyuk,” the agency began the issued statement, as reported by the outlet. “First, we ask for your understanding in the delay in announcing our position in order to confirm the facts. After checking the truth with the actor regarding the initial report, we have confirmed that all the relevant information is not true in the slightest.”

The statement continued, “We also express our regret at the one-sided report from the media that did not check the truth even once with the agency or the actor before publishing the article. The agency will promptly request a correction report from the Press Arbitration Commission (PAC) against the media outlet responsible for seriously damaging the actor’s reputation through false reports.

“Furthermore, we will file criminal charges against the reporter of the media outlet that first reported [the claims] as well as the anonymous source,” the statement further read. “The agency has requested this case to our legal advisor today in order to proceed with legal actions, and we are in the process of carrying them out. The actor and his family are the ones who experienced the greatest pain due to the vague gossip and rumors that are thoughtless and not confirmed in the slightest.”

The agency added, “No matter how the agency or actor reveal an official statement denying the reckless articles that take on an attitude of “whatever if it is false” and do not even check the truth and only rely on groundless rumors online, the current state leads to [the actor] being branded with a scarlet letter, which the agency really cannot help but feel distressed and regrettable about. After this time, the agency will take severe legal action against publishing one-sided claims without checking the truth online (via social media and YouTube).”

“We will also respond strongly through punishment without leniency against malicious over-analyzations and interpretations, actions that encourage this, and malicious posts and comments that go beyond mere expression of opinions,” the agency wrote before adding, “We will also take legal action with the reference materials we have already collected through our monitoring. We earnestly request that you please refrain from spreading groundless rumors or making speculative reports. With continuous monitoring, we will respond sternly through various angles. Thank you.”

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