Why did ex-Le Sserafim’s Garam get level 5 punishment if she was innocent of bullying?
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Kim Garam’s school bullying case might just be coming to an end. Following her termination with HYBE and exit from the K-pop group Le Sserafim, the 16-year-old personally spoke up on the matter and even released evidence that now has the internet swaying to her side. On August 10, Garam posted on an Instagram account a lengthy letter claiming her innocence and a second post sharing the school violence records. While HYBE had initially claimed that Garam was innocent and actually a victim, the tide had turned against her when it was confirmed she had been given a level 5 punishment.
School bullying in South Korea is extreme with physical assault being involved. However, schools are not too adept at handling it since several of the bullies are iljins (rich kid bullies) which is why many get away without any harsh punishment. On top of that, level 5 punishment is considered the highest level of punishment and is rarely given to a student. So, when the Ministry of Education themselves confirmed that Kim Garam had been given the level 5 punishment, the general public dropped her. Before her exit from Le Sserafim, HYBE had shared it was all a misunderstanding.
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But it seems that Kim Garam’s own words hold more weight as the Internet is torn and starting to believe her as she shared the same thing as HYBE. In the school violence committee records that the ex-Le Sserafim member shared, it seems that she was given the level 5 punishment and even accepted it silently because she had tried to defend her friend which led to some verbal abuse. The alleged victim Yoo Eun-seo had, in fact, taken a photograph of Garam’s friend and spread it on Facebook.
To defend her friend, Kim Garam and a couple of other friends had verbally abused her in several instances. Eun-seo too had retaliated by bringing her clique to fight back in a verbal match. Garam had also bad-mouthed Eun-seo on the Ask app. Well, in June 2018, a school violence committee met up with four parents. While the records did not disclose the punishment that Eun-seo got for spreading the naked photo of her friend, it clearly showed every argument that led to Kim Garam getting a level 5 punishment.
Garam had also threatened by hinting that she and her friends could also spread naked pictures of Eun-seo to which the latter apologized. Along with verbally abusing Eun-seo for spreading the photo, Kim Garam’s clique also retaliated when Eun-seo transferred to a new school and claimed she had been bullied by Garam. The former Le Sserafim star had formed a messaging group to ask her why she was spreading false rumors.
The committee came to the conclusion that since Kim Garam had “bad-mouthed” Eun-seo, was present during the molka incident (spreading of the naked picture), called another school to swear at the students that were Eun-seo and her new friends, had sworn in a group chat and the Ask app, she would be given the level 5 punishment. It included 6 hours of special education and 5 hours of special education for the parents. Apart from these incidents, Kim Garam denies all of the other baseless rumors that claimed she had hit people with flower pots and bags and been rude to teachers and disabled classmates.
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