What happened to Hyunjin from Stray Kids? Hyunjin issues official apology for bullying

Stray Kids' Hyunjin found himself under fire after a number of alleged schoolmates came together to accuse him of bullying. This is not the most uncommon news in South Korea as many other K-pop celebrities have faced such allegations too. School bullying is a rampant issue in South Korea as is in other countries, hence many variety shows and kdramas are making it a point to throw more light at the topic (True Beauty, Itaewon Class). Here's what happened to Hyunjin and JYP's statement to it.

Also Read - Kim Woojin's Reason For Leaving Korean Boy Band 'Stray Kids' Revealed; Know What It Is

Also Read - Stray Kids' Han Jisung Releases Apology Note For Using Abusive Word In One Of His Raps

What happened to Hyunjin? Will Hyunjin leave Stray Kids?

Previously, Hyunjin's management agency JYP Entertainment strictly denied these allegations upon hearing from one probable victim. Many more classmates marched to social media to post their incidences with Hyunjin since then. One of the victims anonymously wrote that he went to Seongnae Middle School with Hyunjin in his second year, where he had become a victim to bullying so much so to the point of him contemplating suicide. He further penned that it was hard for him to live his normal daily life due to the trauma he received in the past.

He described one of the incidents of bullying in detail, "He beat me up on campus because I didn’t block the ball during a soccer game. He cursed at me and picked on me because of my size. I became a loser all because I couldn’t block the soccer ball. My name became a joke. In a group chat, he would write things such as, ‘Are you ____ (alleged victim’s name)? Why are you acting like him?’ He would use my name to joke around with his friends. I wasn’t able to do anything about the group chatroom and that made me fall into an even deeper depression. I became so fearful that at one point, I stopped going into the group chatroom."

He revealed that he doesn't have any tangible proof or physical evidence of the above incidents but he has been collecting testimonies from witnesses that serve as enough proof. He followed this up with 3 screenshots of KakaoTalk messages of him and two of his friends who backed his theory. According to KoreaBoo, the following is the English translation of the chat - 

Friend: “When we were going to the library, you told me you needed to stop by your house so I waited for you in the hallway of the apartment”
Friend: “When you left, you told your mom that you loved her and closed the door behind you”
Alleged victim: “Yup”
Friend: “I asked you why you said I love you to your mom at the time. You said it was because you were going through such a difficult time. You kept thinking about how you didn’t know when you’d die so you said it to her often”
Alleged victim: “You’re right. It was so hard back then”
Friend: “I don’t know if it made me really sad back then, but the memory of it is so vivid and I can remember it exactly as it was…”

Alleged victim: “The time when I was bullied”
Alleged victim: “Do you remember it”
Alleged victim: ”I don’t have any friends from the same class”
Classmate: “I don’t remember the bullying, but I do remember when he cursed at you and made fun of all the male classmates with the same name as you”
Classmate: “I remember the male classmates’ reactions”
Classmate: “They couldn’t get mad, but they kept denying everything…all while Hwang Hyunjin was cracking up”

On Saturday, JYP Entertainment finally broke their silence in the form of Hyunjin's statement. The statement mentioned that Hyunjin will be halting all his activities as a celebrity as a way to self-reflect. JYP also revealed that Hyunjin has since met up with the accuser to apologise in person. To put it simply, Hyunjin has been suspended from work temporarily but he will not leave Stray Kids. Consecutively, Hyunjin also came clean about his past actions and penned a lengthy and handwritten apology on his Instagram.

(English Translation in the caption)

Also Read - Stray Kids' Han Jisung Note To Kim Seon Ho's Donation; What Happened In K-world This Week

Also Read - LOONA's Chuu Accused Of Being A School Bully, Agency Issues Statement