| Actor Cho Byeong-kyu is accused of verbally abusing a classmate in high school. Courtesy of HB Entertainment |
By Lee Gyu-lee
HB Entertainment, the management agency for actor Cho Byeong-kyu, has denied bullying allegations raised against the emerging star of the 2018 TV series "Sky Castle."
"We inform you that we have filed a request for a police investigation into the malicious comments and false information spreading online," the agency said in a statement Wednesday. "We will not stand by and let hateful comments spread, and will take legal action following the investigation."
The move comes a day after a person who claimed to be his high school classmate accused Cho of bullying him while they were attending Westlake Boys High School in New Zealand.
The accuser claimed that Cho approached him "like he wanted to pick a fight" from day 1.
The accuser said he tried to avoid Cho, who he said did not leave him alone. On one occasion, Cho and his friends surrounded him during lunchtime and verbally abused him.
"I was getting insults the whole lunchtime and I couldn't even have my lunch," he said. "It was such a traumatic day starting my school year like that when I just came to study."
The accuser said he was not concerned about being sued for speaking out, as he has evidence from his time at the school of Cho's bullying and has contacted homestay parents as witnesses.
"From what I remember, you were not innocent. When you became a celebrity, your agency started to cover up for you, like there are no victims," the accuser said. "The reason I'm writing this is, though it may not seem as serious as what some others went through, that I feel sorry that many victims have been silenced. I just want you to face your past and own up to it. You just need to apologize."
The actor was faced with similar bullying accusations in 2018, when an unidentified person said Cho "verbally offended and spit" on the person, who claimed to attend the same elementary and middle schools with him.
Cho dismissed the claim, denying that he "never bullied anyone in school."
After his breakout role in JTBC's 2018 hit series "Sky Castle," Cho recently appeared in OCN's series "The Uncanny Counter," which ended last month with the network's highest viewership record, and is set to appear as a co-host of a new entertainment show, along with star comedian Yoo Jae-suk.