Former X1 member Cha Junho is being accused of school bullying.
On June 9, Tuesday, "A" posted a statement on her Twitter account, accusing Cha Junho of being a bully, saying, "I was bullied by Cha Junho and his friends during the 5th grade. This is true, and the elementary school teacher is aware of this."
The Twitter user continued and stated that although Cha Junho looks like a good child, innocent, and maybe even a little awkward, he is not. "He would attack people in front of our peers and made school life more difficult for them. I am one of those people."
She alleged a time when Cha Junho was asked by the librarian of their school to keep quiet in the library. In turn, Cha Junho allegedly cursed at her in front of his friends. "A" said the librarian was forced to apologize to them and refused to continue working there, saying she felt disgusted at being made to apologize. She ended up seeking a job elsewhere.
The Twitter user shared photos from their school days as well as texts they had exchanged with their peers. Cha Junho's elementary school teacher had also posted pictures on SNS as evidence.
When mentioning why it took so long to come out with their story, "A" claims that since it happened so long ago, she chose not to post it since there would be so many fans. However, he accidentally stumbled across his old photo and felt compelled to share their experience.
"A" ended up removing some of the photos from her Twitter account, leading fans to believe that the case may have been fabricated. In turn, "A" uploaded Cha Junho's graduation photo and more. She then stated that he was telling the truth.
However, even after "A" released these photos, netizens still aren't sure if they could believe him. One netizen said, "Is this really the means to confirm whether he committed school violence or not?"
Following the accusation, Woollim Entertainment released a statement and threatened to take legal action against malicious comments and false allegations.
The statement reads:
"Hello, this is Woollim Entertainment.
First of all, I would like to thank our fans for loving and caring for our trainee Cha Junho. We are informing you of a case of spreading false information about our trainee online.
We have recently confirmed that malicious and untrue postings are spreading through SNS and the community. We immediately confirmed the fact and confirmed that the information was completely groundless.
As a result, we will take strong legal action to protect the artist's image that will be tarnished through various online communities, SNS and Internet media at this time. We will continue to do our best to protect our artists and trainees by taking tough legal action without any leniency or agreement due to the spread of false information and malicious, slanderous postings. I'd like to thank all the fans who love and care for Woollim.
Thank you."
X1, the group Cha Junho debuted in, disbanded in January due to controversy over manipulation of votes during his and the other member's time in Mnet's Produce X 101.
