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Is Chorong innocent? Apink star's 'victim' under probe for false bullying claims

Apink's leader had been accused at the same time false bullying allegations cropped up against several other K-pop idols

Since early 2021, a lot of K-pop idols were under fire as school bullying allegations cropped up. Bullying is taken seriously and the police get involved in South Korea as it is extreme and involves physical abuse. While a lot of trolls tried to target idols, fortunately, most of these turned out to be false as seen in the case of Stray Kids’ Hyunjin and Seventeen’s Mingyu. But some of the cases are taking a much longer time as with Apink’s leader, Chorong.

A photo of Chorong underage drinking was circulated following bullying accusations. Ms. Kim, a supposed childhood friend of the Apink star claimed that she had been physically bullied. The alleged victim stated that Chorong used to slap her and kick her in the shin when they were in school. When Apink’s label, Play M Entertainment denied the accusations, the accuser said that she would be filing a lawsuit against the label. We even had Chorong speaking up about it.

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Chorong accused of bullying

Chorong apologized for the underage drinking but said that she was innocent regarding the bullying claims. She, in fact, said that she had been close friends with the accuser and there may have been misunderstandings but she had never physically been violent with Ms. Kim. These statements had been released in April, following which there wasn’t much news on the matter. Fans found it suspicious and decided to stay neutral as the bullying claims against Apink’s Chorong cropped up at the same time as the false allegations against several other K-pop idols.

‘Victim’ under investigation

Ms. Kim had also released an audio recording of her conversation where Chorong confronted her over the bullying claims. She ended up apologizing for what seemed to be a one-time fight that they had had. And on November 22, the accuser is now under investigation. The Apink member’s law firm has forwarded the accuser to the prosecution as she had the intention of blackmailing Chorong with false information. The law firm stated that she had mass emailed false information about Chorong to reporters and ordered the K-pop idol to retire. The police questioned mutual acquaintances and cross-examined the evidence over 7 months and came to the conclusion that it is difficult to confirm the bullying as everyone had different testimonies.

‘Chorong is innocent’

Fans had a lot to say about these new developments. One fan tweeted, “Good, things need to be stricter on false allegations. Too many people get away with the shit and this can cause so much mental distress.” Another posted, “About time! All of these accusations should be prosecuted if they perp can’t verify their accusations. It will be the only way to stop it!” One fan simply said, “CHORONG IS INNOCENT.” Another sympathized, “As much as I anticipated that statement, i cant even imagine how mentally draining this would’ve been for chorong to be dragged on for SEVEN months.”