‘I was a victim’: Actress Seo Shin-ae accuses (G)I-DLE’s Soojin of bullying

Actress Seo Shin-ae, left, and Soojin of K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE. Capture from Instagram, Courtesy of Cube Entertainment

By Dong Sun-hwa

Actress Seo Shin-ae claimed Friday that Soojin of K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE bullied her when they were attending the same middle school, refuting Soojin’s previous claim that she barely knew her.

Seo, 22, alleged on Instagram that Soojin and her friends made personal attacks against her for two years.

“Wherever I went, they laughed and cursed at me,” Seo wrote. “They said they couldn’t believe how an unattractive girl like me became a celebrity. Some of them even said I was a washed-up actress. All of that may have been just meaningless remarks for them, but I still feel the pain. I came to fear people and became more introverted. I learned from this experience that psychological violence can inflict severe damage on people.”

She added, “A few weeks ago, she (Soojin) said she did not remember everything and that she had never spoken to me in the past. Yes, she is right ― all of those remarks were one-sided insults. It is a pity to see her denying what she did to me behind my back.”

In February, Soojin was accused of bullying Seo and other classmates while attending Waw Middle School in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. After she denied the allegations, Seo wrote a mysterious message on Instagram that read, “None of your excuses.”

After Soojin’s record label Cube Entertainment announced in March that Soojin would put her musical activities on hold, Seo left another message which read, “Your brilliant spring was a cold winter and bitter long night for me.”

A few days later, Soojin once again denied the accusations, saying, “I neither bullied nor talked behind Seo’s back. My management company contacted her agency, but it did not respond. I demand Seo clarify her stance on the issue.”

Seo made her entertainment debut in a commercial in 2004 and later became a child actress. She appeared in the 2007 movie “Meet Mr. Daddy” and the 2013 TV series “The Queen’s Classroom.”