Allegations vs. Statements vs. School Violence Committee Report 

There are many rumors out there, but what do the actual statements and official document say?

Allegation: "Yoo Eunseo transferred school because she was bullied."

School Violence Committee Report - SVCR: Yoo Eunseo transferred May 23, 2018, due to hacking someone else’s Facebook account and uploading pictures of another student wearing only their underwear.

Yoo Eunseo - YES: Yoo Eunseo voluntarily transferred because she could not withstand the continued bullying but she suffered from malicious rumors such as "Yoo Eunseo was in the wrong, that’s why she was forced to transfer."

Hybe: Yoo Eunseo voluntarily transferred when there was discussion of a “forced transfer” at the request the victim of the photo incident. 

Source of disinformation: Yoo Eunseo's statement

“[In 2018, when they were enrolled in the same middle school] Kim Garam’s bullying drove Yoo Eunseo to self-harm.”

SVCR: N/A

YES: [April 2022] Yoo Eunseo was criticized and threatened by unidentified people online for “slandering Kim Garam." These threats from third parties triggered her anxiety attacks. Yoo Eunseo claimed she attempted so she would not have to endure them [the threats from online strangers and anxiety attacks] any longer.

Hybe: N/A

Source of disinformation: Pann Choa's clickbait tweet 

"The underwear photo incident never occurred" / "Yoo Eunseo never got punished for taking an underwear photo."

SVCR: Yoo Eunseo transferred because of the “photo incident.” Following Yoo Eunseo's transfer, Kim Garam was disciplined by the autonomous school violence committee for cursing  at Yoo Eunseo while demanding an apology on behalf of her friend over the underwear photo.

YES: N/A

Hybe: Yoo Eun Seo admitted her wrongdoings but wasn’t punished for her actions. Rather, she pointed out the classmates who had confronted her as perpetrators, referred them to the school violence committee, and then transferred to another school to avoid a “forced transfer” disposition on her record after the fallout of the underwear photo incident.

Source of misinformation: Unfortunately, some of the misinformation was a result Hybe's misinterpretation of the timeline of events that occurred and stating Yoo Eunseo was not initially punished for the underwear photo.  Therefore, people latched onto this premise to discredit Hybe's statement because of the presumption that any school would punish Yoo Eunseo for what is technically the distribution of child p****. However, since the disclosure of the school violence report,  it's confirmed that Yoo Eunseo was indeed punished by the school and was forced to transfer because of the sexual harassment she committed before Garam's school violence committee even convened. 

"Kim Garam threw a flowerpot at someone’s head."

SVCR: N/A

YES: N/A

Hybe: Kim Garam was harmed by this rumor in school that a teacher had to step in to mediate the situation so Garam could get an apology from the student who spread the rumor. 

Source of disinformation: Yoo Eunseo's friends/Garam's ex-classmates commenting on Korean portals like Nate Pann

"Kim Garam committed physical assault."

SVCR: “Swearing and making threats” 

YES: “Curse-filled, threatening text messages” – no mention of physical abuse or assault. 

Hybe: Kim Garam and her friends cursed at Yoo Eunseo in the process of confronting her over the underwear photo and hacking, but no physical violence was involved. 

Source of disinformation: Clout-chasing adults who wrecklessly commented in the situation without regard for facts and context