Alleged victim accuses Nam Joo-hyuk of being a bully at school

Actor Nam Joo-hyuk [YONHAP]

A person identified only as “A” claimed that they were bullied by actor Nam Joo-hyuk while at school in an interview with Sports Kyunghyang on Tuesday. A said that he and Nam went to high school together and that Nam was “indeed a school bully.”

“I was terrified to see him in films because of what I had suffered from him in the past,” A said in the interview. Following the news report, Nam’s agency Management Soop issued a statement Wednesday, briefly denying the bullying allegations.

“It is not true,” the agency said.

In the interview with Sports Kyunghyang, A said that “Nam and his friends,” whom A could remember the names of, “bullied me constantly, making me turn on my hotspot so they can use the Internet and taking my smartphone so that they could use it.” A also claimed that Nam purchased games using A’s smartphone and never paid him back.

“I even had to be forced to do a ‘sparring battle’ with others whom Nam had appointed,” A claimed. “Nam and his friend made a ring by standing in a circle and I had to be in a fight that I didn’t event want to be in.”

It’s the first time that a person claiming to be a victim of Nam has come forward. Last week, reports started to emerge that Nam was allegedly a school bully during his middle and high school years. The accusation were made by a person, identified as “B,” who claims to have attended the same school as Nam. B did not say he was a victim, but tipped off local news outlet The Days and the news quickly spread online.

The accuser said that “Nam was part of a group of school bullies, and they would go around bullying numerous students. They would hurl curse words at students and hit them every day, not to mention pushing the students to cut in line during lunchtime.”

Management Soop responded to the scandal four days later on June 24, saying that the accusations are “entirely untrue” and requested The Days correct its report.

“We will also file a criminal lawsuit against the reporter of the news outlet who broke the story and the anonymous accuser,” it said. “We are currently in the process of seeking legal advice from our legal firm.”

The agency also added that it will take legal action against people that post online, be it on social media or YouTube, spreading unconfirmed claims about its artists.

Nam debuted in 2013 as a fashion model and starred in popular K-dramas including tvN’s “Cheese in The Trap” (2016), SBS’s “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo” (2016), MBC’s “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Ju” (2016-17), Netflix’s “The School Nurse Files” (2020) and tvN’s "Start-Up" (2020).

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