The scandal continues! More alleged victim and witnesses started coming out to supply possible evidence and testimony about LE SSERAFIM member Kim Garam bullying issue. Check out the following updates and 5 of the most crucial evidence.
*CAUTION: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS DISCUSSIONS OF BULLYING AND VIOLENCE THAT MAY BE DISTURBING FOR SOME READERS. PROCEED CAREFULLY. *
LE SSERAFIM Kim Garam Bullying Issue Continues with MORE Alleged Evidence from Assumed Victim and Witnesses
The bullying issue and scandal revolving around Kim Garam of LE SSERAFIM have yet concluded. Following HYBE’s official statement regarding the alleged victim’s testimony, more individuals started coming out. They claimed themselves to be the witness, and another victim of Kim Garam school bullying when and provided more assumed evidence for the issue.
Kim Garam entangled herself in a school bullying issue prior to the debut of HYBE’s new girl group, LE SSERAFIM. The issue stated that Kim Garam was an “iljin” when she was in middle school.
Iljin refers to a student who severely dominates her friends through intimidation, threats, and even violence. The term basically means the male or female queen bees with their cliques dominating and almost controlling the whole class and community. Most of the time, people consider these iljins to be school bullies due to the severe violence they commit against their friends.
The suspected idea that LE SSERAFIM Kim Garam is an iljin with severe bullying issue is not without cause. Even after HYBE released an official statement saying that it was a school fight to defend her friends, more alleged victim and witnesses came out to provide additional assumed evidence for Kim Garam bullying issue.
5 MOST CRUCIAL Evidence from the Bullying Victim and Witnesses
Among other baseless rumors and stories, this 5 MOST CRUCIAL evidence has led fans to believe that Kim Garam bullying issue is real.
1. Proof of Restraining Order
The first and most crucial evidence of Kim Garam school bullying issue is the restraining order proof from the School Violence Committee.
In 2018, the South Korean law stated that the school would form a violence committee when there was a strong violence case involved. However, they would also have to include strong evidence such as SNS posts. Without any evidence, the school cannot form a violence committee.
Therefore, fans believe that Kim Garam bullying issue was real. That is because in the proof of restraining order by the School Violence Committee, the name Kim Garam appeared as the perpetrator.
2. MORE Testimonies from Multiple Alleged Victim and Witness
The second crucial piece of evidence that managed to convince the public about Kim Garam bullying issue is the many testimonies from multiple alleged victim and witnesses.
Former Schoolmates in Dance Team
Following HYBE’s statement and previous witness testimonies, multiple schoolmates of Kim Garam stepped up and posted a testimony. She described how Kim Garam verbally harassed and gaslighted one of the members because of wrong formation.
“HI-ah, if you keep getting it wrong like this and giving harm to others, then just leave. They only chose you because there was space left anyway.”
Kim Garam based on witness’ testimony
Along with the verbal harassment and gaslighting, the post mentioned that Kim Garam had also admitted to her friends that the reason she moved to their school was because she had hit someone in the previous school.
“The dance team members were sitting in a circle to try to get close and introduced themselves and said our TMIs.
Then, she f*cking proudly asked, ‘Kids, do you know why I transferred here?’ so everyone was like because you moved…? But Kim Garam covered her face with her hand and laughed and said, ‘No, it’s because I hit someone, LOL.’
So everyone’s faces were like ??? while Kim Garam was laughing it up by herself.”
Witness’ testimony
Another statement from a different dance member stated that it was a daily routine for Kim Garam to curse at the people she doesn’t like. Kim Garam would also make the person kneel in the hallway and throw shopping bags at them.
In order to verify this statement, fans started digging into an old post from the dance team at Kim Garam’s Kyeongin Middle School. The post mentioned “One Heart Festival”, proving that the event and its dance team existed.
Testimony from Former Classmate as Another Victim
In addition to the dance team schoolmate, more testimony came up on May 21 from another alleged Kim Garam bullying issue victim. While the case may not be as severe as Yoo Eunseo’s, the victim described how Kim Garam had verbally harassed her during middle school.
Not only that, the victim testimony also mentioned how HYBE’s director had gone to Yoo Eunseo’s school and tried to keep them silent.
3. Kim Garam Received a Level 5 Punishment for Her Bullying Issue
Next, the most crucial evidence that had convinced the public to believe Kim Garam bullying issue was the fact that the idol had received a level-5 punishment.
According to the South Korean Law, there are 10 levels of punishment given to students involved as the offenders of school bullying. The lightest sentence is level 1, where the offender would have to make an official apology to the victim. In contrast, the harshest punishment is levels 9 and 10, which involve expulsion and detention center (juvenile jail).
Kim Garam received a level-5 punishment from the school violence committee. When a level-5 penalty is involved in South Korean law, it usually means extreme violence, including physical or sexual abuse and repetitive occurrences.
4. Confirmation about the Level-5 Punishment from the Ministry of Education
Following the viral information about Kim Garam’s bullying issue, South Korean ministry of education confirmed that Kim Garam had indeed received a level-5 punishment in photo evidence. It is one of the most critical turning points that convinced the public the most about the truth behind Kim Garam bullying issue.
In South Korea, when you receive a level-5 punishment or above from the school violence committee, it will stay in your record for at least 2 years.
The Ministry of Education literally stated that the accusations are true #garam_out https://t.co/R9UedENwsv pic.twitter.com/dY3CMjbo6z
— thea (@thearovz) May 20, 2022
Korean lawyer's take on the revelations about Kim Garam's history
— 아나탈 (@gatamchun) May 19, 2022
"If you're punished under Clause 5 for school violence, this remains on your school record for 2 years after you graduate, and people hire lawyers for civil suits to erase that record." https://t.co/vDAus4KaEz
5. Confirmation from HYBE
Finally, HYBE even confirmed that Kim Garam had received a level-5 punishment for her school bullying issue.
At the same time, the company stated that Kim Garam accepted the punishment without any violence involved. According to HYBE, at the time of the incident, Kim Garam’s mother believed that the decision was best to help her daughter. Therefore, she didn’t make any appeal.
However, South Korean media reported that it was almost impossible to have someone punished with level-5 without extreme violence misconduct.
As a comparison, fans looked into one of South Korean past severe bullying cases that involved a level-5 punishment. One of the cases that ended with level-5 punishment for the offender was a bullying case about a middle school boy who got sexually assaulted repetitively, then eventually passed away.
i agree tbh i know the disciplinary actions they take depends on each school and their anti bullying committee but level 5 cases no matter where must be very severe to be level 5. it doesnt make sense to say garam was involved in a level 5 case for just defending a friend https://t.co/2JbsCNGx2X pic.twitter.com/5Jjueg2wYM
— nia (@Igbt127) May 20, 2022
In addition to the comparison case, JTBC Case News also invited an expert to discuss Kim Garam bullying issue. In the program, the expert mentioned that a level-5 punishment means violence and/or repetitive violence cases involved. Also, regardless of who caused the issue, the first person who committed violence would become the perpetrator.
All these facts and evidence are why the public started believing that Kim Garam bullying issue is real.
Kim Garam's School Violence suspicion is being discussed in JTBC Case Team program.
— 📌 CHECK PINNED (@yeongijalhae) May 20, 2022
Here, an expert explained about Kim Garam's case.
He explained that the 5 level of punishment indicated that there is a violence and repeation of violencepic.twitter.com/3f2vtSnyLw
Kim Garam Went on Hiatus Following the Bullying Issue and Its Evidence – LE SSERAFIM OT5 Performed for the First Time
So, what is your take in Kim Garam and her bullying issue after seeing all this crucial evidence?
Now that Kim Garam has gone on hiatus to reflect on her wrongdoings and heal her mental health, LE SSERAFIM will continue promoting as 5 members.
On May 22, HYBE new girl group LE SSERAFIM performed their debut song, “FEARLESS” as 5 members for the first time on SBS Inkigayo. Here’s LE SSERAFIM wonderful performance and stay with Kpoppost Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more news and update about Kim Garam and LE SSERAFIM.
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I believe that the most crucial evidence of the Kim Garam bullying issue that convinced the public is the video of her assaulting a fan. This video clearly shows her acting out of anger and not in a playful or friendly manner.