Bullying accusations against newest Le Sserafim member shot down by label

Kim Ga-ram will be a member of HYBE's new girl group Le Sserafim. [SOURCE MUSIC]

Multiple school bullying accusations have been made online against Kim Ga-ram, 17, who was introduced by Source Music, an affiliate of HYBE, on Tuesday as a member of its soon-to-debut girl group Le Sserafim.

The bullying allegations surrounding Kim are mostly by netizens who argue they went to same middle school as Kim in western Seoul’s Guro District. Many shared pictures of Kim during her middle school years and screenshots of text messages allegedly sent by Kim that used vulgar language, insisting that Kim was a school bully who hurled verbal abuses at those she disliked and that she “drank and smoke.”

One netizen argued that a classmate was hospitalized due to the amount of stress she received from Kim’s bullying.

Source Music released a statement Wednesday strongly refuting all the allegations while saying it will take legal action against netizens “who spread false rumors.”

It said that HYBE has looked into the matter and found the allegations against Kim to have been maliciously edited by the netizens who claimed to be her schoolmates for the purpose of harming Kim. It also said it was able to confirm that Kim was “the victim of school harassment soon after entering middle school, contrary to the allegations of some netizens.”

HYBE said it received third-party statements to confirm that Kim was a victim of harassment and cyber bullying in school by her schoolmates.

HYBE urged netizens and media not to spread false information and stressed that anyone who distributes false rumors defaming Kim, who is still underage, will face lawsuits without leniency by the label.

HYBE has been introducing the members of its new girl group Le Sserafim since Tuesday. Sakura, an ex-member of IZ*ONE, a project girl group formed after Mnet's K-pop survival program "Produce 48" (2018), was introduced as the first member, and Kim was introduced Tuesday, following Sakura.

The label will announce a new member of the sextet every day until April 9. The group is set to debut in May, but the exact date has not been revealed.

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]