Kim Hieora’s Involvement in the Notorious Iljin Gang at Sangji Girls’ High School Exposed by Dispatch

Dispatch received information about the bullying incident involving “The Glory” star Kim Hieora back in May.

Kim Hieora is revealed to be a member of “Big Sangji,” a notorious iljin (school bullying) gang at Sangji Girls’ High School, known for stealing money, violence, and verbal abuse.

From May to June, Dispatch met with approximately 10 former students of Sangji Girls’ High School.

Eventually, Kim Hieora herself admitted to being part of Big Sangji but denied committing school violence: “Was I afraid of my own existence? I have reflected on those days. I have never hit anyone… Of course, that doesn’t mean I am not responsible. I lived as a bystander.”

Big Sangji

According to former students, Big Sangji was a group of iljin students at Sangji Girls’ High School. What they did the most was stealing money from others. If the victims didn’t pay, they would be physically assaulted and verbally abused. The money collected by this gang was used for personal purposes.

Kim Hieora explained, “I wasn’t a model student, but Big Sangji wasn’t an iljin gang. Back then, close groups of friends tended to have shared blogs. Big Sangji was the name of a blog, not a place exclusively for iljin students.“

“It’s true that I hung out with friends from Big Sangji. I was also beaten by senior students without knowing the reason. But I never hit my friends or juniors.

I didn’t participate in bullying or violence. I think my name was mentioned because I was with them at that time. I never led anything. Looking back, I realize I made a big mistake by appearing indifferent to those incidents.“

The stealing incident involving a classmate, X

In the first semester of 2004, Kim Hieora was in the 3rd grade at Sangji Middle School, while X was in the 2nd grade. At that time, Kim Hieora’s father had a business failure. He went bankrupt, and a red notice was posted on their house. It was difficult for them to receive an allowance, so Kim Hieora started working part-time at a snack bar.

Kim Hieora confided in a junior student about her situation. The two were well-known at Sangji Middle School, between X, the younger sibling, and Y, the older sister. This friendship became a decisive factor in the stealing incident in the 2nd-grade classroom.

Dispatch had a phone conversation with X, who was involved in the incident. X said, “I asked Hieora why she was doing a part-time job. She said it was because of the bankruptcy and the difficult situation at home. I wanted to help her, so I did it voluntarily…” X said that they stole the item to impress their sister.

X added, “I wrote in the confession letter that I stole the item because I wanted to financially support Hieora. The teacher didn’t believe it. In the end, they called Hieora, and we both received punishment.” 

Kim Hieora said she remembered the incident very clearly. The actress said, “That friend followed me. She listened to my family’s situation and tried to help me. I didn’t force her to do it. But no one believed me”.

Kim Hieora and X got punished. They had to go to different places to do volunteer work for two weeks and spend time reflecting on their wrongdoings. “This incident was an opportunity for me to realize that I had lived a life without anyone trusting me.”

According to the actress, she began to study hard in the second semester of the third year and set the goal to enter the Department of Humanities. 

Kim Hieora went to Bukwon Girls’ High School and achieved her goal while X moved to another city. However, the label kept following them. Kim Hieora shared, “I worked hard to become a better person. However, it felt heartbroken thinking of the person who lived in pain”.

Memories are stored in different ways

An informant revealed that Kim Hieora ordered them to buy cigarettes. Another informant said Kim Hieora took their money to go to karaoke.

However, what Kim Hieora remembers is different. First, she acknowledged that Big Sangji gang committed money extortion, assault, and verbal abuse but refuted the direct participation allegation. The actress said, “I never smoked. I tried to look strong by smoking but my body did not take it. Besides, my boyfriend hated women who smoke”, adding “I liked singing and went to karaoke often but sometimes my friends paid for it. I didn’t know how they got the money and I never took money from anyone”.

During the time “The Glory”, a drama that deals with school violence, aired, Kim Hieora rose to stardom with her performance of Lee Sa Ra, a school violence perpetrator, ironically.

At that time, people who studied at Sangji Girls’ Middle School left messages in a Kakaotalk chatroom, such as “She really met a character that suits herself?”, “Isn’t that her own self?”, “It was exactly her way of talking when she was in middle school”, etc.

Regarding her appearance in “The Glory”, Kim Hieora said, “I’m sorry. I was too busy rationalizing myself”.

The investigation into Kim Hieora’s school violence allegations ended in June but the actress wanted to reveal it a little later because she was worried about the broadcast of “The Uncanny Counter 2”. She said, “I don’t want to cause damage to the drama with my personal matters”.

At that time, “The Uncanny Counter 2” was waiting for a broadcast schedule. Considering the sweat and efforts of the cast and the entire production team, Dispatch decided to delay their reports on Kim Hieora’s school violence case for three months.

Source: Dispatch