HYBE + Source Music: “LE SSERAFIM will temporarily promote with 5 members excluding Kim Ga-ram”
HYBE spoke up about the school violence allegations of Kim Ga-ram, a member of LE SSERAFIM.
HYBE expressed its position through a document containing a tremendous length of content, and first began the long article by saying, “We’re sorry for causing concern to fans.” The reason why HYBE has not revealed its specific position was first explained, “We have refrained from clarifying the details of the facts confirmed through the member herself and multiple third-party statements, fearing that the identity and sensitive personal information of minors, including those claiming damage, in this case, might get leaked.”
“As Kim Ga-ram has been described as a unilateral perpetrator of school violence over a long period of time, we want to correct the related suspicions that have been raised as only one side of the situation has been reported on media,” it said, claiming that Kim did not commit any physical violence for a long time.
HYBE explained every controversial issue, but first of all, HYBE claimed that the victim of allegations related to the School Violence Committee is rather unfairly the perpetrator.
“Since the incident, Kim Ga-ram has spent her time in middle school as a victim of school violence as she suffered from malicious fake rumors.”
Until recently, Kim has been damaged even more by false facts such as “forced transfer,” “hit a friend on the head with a flowerpot,” “crackup or assault on another student after leaving school in a police car,” “underage drinking and smoking,” “slandering other artists” and “leaving the debut group and ending her trainee contract with other agency,” HYBE claimed.
The agency once again stressed, “We are sorry that we have to explain such sensitive issues related to her friends of various ages because we have tried to solve the problem without disclosing the details to the public, but false information is spreading widely, and the contents related to the school violence case are revealed one-sidedly through a law firm. It was a verbal argument for her damaged friend, but she admits her fault and deeply reflects on her actions which include using profanities and making that friend feel threatened,” acknowledged the accusation of her harsh words and actions.
“In conclusion, we have decided to discuss with Kim Ga-ram and stop her activities for a while to focus on healing her injured heart. Until Kim Ga-ram returns from recovery, LE SSERAFIM plans to promote as a five-member system for the time being,” it announced, adding that LE SSERAFIM will promote as a five-member team without Kim Ga-ram.
Until now, never has the public seen such a long announcement of the agency responding to any school violence-related issues.
Below is the full text of HYBE’s position.
Hello.
It’s HYBE/Source Music.
We would like to tell you the facts and our position on the additional allegations related to LE SSERAFIM member Kim Ga-ram.
First of all, we would like to apologize for causing concern to all fans regarding this suspicion. We have refrained from clarifying the details of the facts confirmed through the member herself and many third-party statements, fearing that the personal information and sensitive personal information of minors, including those of their friends involved in the incident, would be revealed. However, we want to correct the suspicions that have been raised as distorted claims continue to appear, describing Kim Garam as a one-sided perpetrator of school violence who has committed physical violence over a long period of time, but only one side of the story has been conveyed.
Before giving you a detailed explanation, the most important points of the allegations regarding the School Violence Countermeasures Committee are as follows:
Yoo Eun-seo, the client of the law firm Daeryun, unauthorizedly took photos of a friend only in her undergarments at school and posted it publicly on a social network service under another friend’s name (this is also clearly stated in the school violence report). Friends of that friend, including Kim Ga-ram, who was furious at this behavior, went up against Yoo Eun-seo, but there was no physical violence in the process. Yoo admitted her wrongdoing but was not punished for her actions. Instead, she pointed out the friends who went up against her as the perpetrators, referred them to the school violence committee, and transferred to another school. As a result, Kim Garam and another friend were punished by the school violence committee.
We will explain in detail the matters related to the member below.
We would like to explain the contents related to the School Violence Committee case.
Kim Ga-ram was called up to the School Violence Committee in 2018 while attending the first grade of middle school, and we would like to explain the detailed facts because the overall context can be understood only when the situation and details of the School Violence Committee are fully explained. In this case, after the perpetrator made a big mistake in ruining her relationship with her friends, she then requested the school violence committee first, and Kim Ga-ram, who stood up for her friend who was harmed in this, was pointed out as the school violence perpetrator.
Kim Ga-ram has been friends with Yoo Eun-seo for about two months from March to April 2018, at the beginning of the first grade of middle school. However, they argued for about three hours when Kim Ga-ram found out that Yoon Eun-seo had gossiped about Kim Ga-ram and other friends at the retreat training during the first grade of middle school, and the situation was taken care of after apologizing to each other. However, as Yoo Eun-seo reported the incident to a close male student, Yoo Eun-seo and her close male students from another school tried to use physical violence against Kim Ga-ram to threaten her. After this incident, Kim Ga-ram no longer got along with Yoo Eun-seo.
After that incident, Yoo Eun-seo has taken a picture of D, a close friend of Kim Ga-ram, wearing only underwear when she was taking off her clothes at school, and uploaded this picture publicly and unauthorizedly to another friend, A’s social network service. At that time, D was very mentally shocked, and a total of five friends, including Kim Ga-ram, who was D’s friend, went out to question Yoo eun-seo for her wrong behavior on behalf of D. Kim Ga-ram and her friends, who were angry at the spread of the hidden camera photos against D, met Yoo Eun-seo separately and cursed at her during a big argument. Yoo Eun-seo admitted to her wrongdoings, but for this behavior, she was not punished by the school, including the School Violence Committee.
In the process, Yoo Eun-seo called for a meeting of the School Violence Countermeasures Committee, claiming that Kim Ga-ram and many of her friends bullied her, due to which Kim Ga-ram and her friend A, who stood up on behalf of the victim D, were held as perpetrators and Yoo Eun-seo as the victim.
However, even before the School Violence Countermeasures Committee finished investigating Yoo’s request, and even before D’s request of investigating Yoo Eun-seo’s hidden camera incident got through which would lead to the process of requiring Yoo to transfer, Yoo voluntarily transferred. In addition, the School Violence Committee has written down two students pointed out by Yoo Eun-seo who had transferred already, Kim Ga-ram and A, as the perpetrators.
Yoo Eun-seo transferred to the provinces before moving back to the school next to where Kim Ga-ram attended one or two months later.
At that time, there were many classmates who understood the core content related to that incident.
Regarding the school violence committee held in June 2018, in addition to the direct subjects, those involved and many of their classmates know the key content. Apart from the superficial classification of perpetrators and victims, there are many of their classmates who perceived Yoo Eun-seo’s behavior as a problem, and we have third parties who can testify to this.
Kim Ga-ram was also a victim of school violence.
After receiving punishment for the above School Violence Countermeasures Committee session, absurd rumors about Kim Ga-ram spread throughout the school. While attending middle school, Kim Ga-ram suffered from malicious false rumors such as “she hit a friend with a flower pot and was forced to transfer”. Afterward, she received an apology from a fellow student who spread false rumors through the intervention of a teacher.
Some of Kim Ga-ram’s fellow students forced Kim Ga-ram and her friends to join group chat rooms where they were verbally made fun of or bullied with cursing. Kim Ga-ram was also bullied if she attempted to leave the group chat room, did not read the messages or did not respond. Even students who did not attend the same school took part in this bullying. When the bullying grew out of hand, Kim Ga-ram and her friends went to their teachers for help.
Kim Ga-ram suffered from false information until recently.
Kim Ga-ram has been suffering from all kinds of rumors since her debut, and we would like to clarify that the following statements raised by some are not true.
1. It is not true that “Kim Ga-ram was forced to transfer”Kim Ga-ram spent her kindergarten to 2nd grade years in Seoul, then spent the rest of her elementary school years in Gwangju due to her father’s job. When she entered middle school, she returned to Seoul and enrolled in the middle school near her house. Currently, she is attending high school. There was no forced transfer involved in any of these processes.
2. Rumors such as “she hit a friend with a flower pot” and “she hit a classmate with a brick” are not true.
These rumors are all defamatory rumors that Kim Ga-ram had to endure during middle school. She received an apology from fellow students who started false rumors through the intervention of a teacher.
3. It is also not true that “she was escorted to school in a police car, had group fights and assaulted other students”.
Kim Ga-ram did not attack other students. She was never involved in a group fight and never arrived at school in a police car. All of the above are lies.
4. The rumor that “she drank and smoked” is not true either.
Kim Ga-ram has never smoked or drunk. However, she was bullied by students who falsely accused her, which led to an investigation. Kim Ga-ram, during a mediation session with the teacher, was so distraught that her parents took her to take a nicotine test and explained to other students that the rumors were false.
5. That “she gossiped about other artists” is also not true.
Kim Ga-ram has never spoken badly or used foul language when describing other artists. Kim Ga-ram has never stated she was a fan of a specific male artist and has never spoken badly about her fellow members or other girl groups members.
6. Rumors such as “Kim Ga-ram used to be a trainee at another agency” and “she was removed from a debut team” are groundless.
Kim Ga-ram has never been a trainee for other agencies before Source Music. In addition, rumors stating that she was supposed to debut in a different group but was removed due to her bad behavior are false.
We have said we will pursue punishment according to the fullest extent of the law for those who spread malicious rumors. We have already started lawsuits against those for who we have evidence and will continue to file lawsuits as we obtain further evidence.
We apologize to all of you and ask for your understanding.
We tried to resolve this matter without disclosing details of the truth to the public since many minors were involved in the controversial issue related to Kim Ga-ram. However, during the days leading up to Kim Ga-ram’s debut, numerous false, malicious rumors were spread uncontrollably, and Kim Ga-ram’s involvement in the School Violence Countermeasures Committee was also publicized one-sidedly. Thus, we had no choice but to respond to the accusations with a detailed account of the situation, and we deeply regret this fact.
Also, we would like to apologize for Kim Ga-ram’s use of language in the past. Although the words were spoken in defense of a friend that was harmed, Kim Ga-ram admitted her mistake and is deeply reflecting on using foul language and threatening the alleged.
Despite being victimized through bullying at school and cyberbullying after her first year of middle school, Kim Ga-ram continued to move forward toward her dreams and future.
However, she has dealt with many rumors and has been attacked mercilessly in the process of her debut. We have spoken with Kim Ga-ram and have agreed to temporarily halt her activities so that she can focus on healing. Until Kim Ga-ram’s recovery, LE SSERAFIM will promote as a five-member group for the time being.
Although the above events occurred during a complicated time in middle school, Kim Ga-ram is reflecting on her immature actions. We ask for your generous understanding.
Lastly, we would like to apologize for causing concerns due to our late response and for any discomfort our artist may have caused. In particular, we sincerely apologize to LE SSERAFIM’s fans for causing you inconvenience.
Thank you.
Source: Nate
