https://sites.google.

com/view/garam-scand
al

This Fact-Checking Document…

Uses official sources such as the statements directly from involved parties themselves,
government policies and the Ministry of Education’s official public school database that anyone
can verify themselves.

We will be updating this document as we learn new information or come across more common
questions and/or misconceptions.

(tweet @thegreatgaram or @poohwoo_ if you have any questions)

Latest Updates:
Claim 3 - Obscenity ≠ violent information ≠ cyberbullying
Claim 2 - the legality of an official from the Ministry of Education confirming information
Clarifying that the public school database is literally from the Ministry of Education

Terms and abbreviations:

SVC = school violence committee (document/record)
Yoo Eunseo = alleged victim
Daeryun Law = Yoo Eunseo/alleged victim’s legal counsel
Gyeongin Middle School = Garam/Eunseo’s middle school

Fact-checking common misinformation

To skip ahead, click on a section heading on the sidebar

Claim 1: The alleged victim, pseudonym Yoo Eunseo, was driven to

su***de because of Kim Garam's treatment of her in middle school

FALSE.
Daeryun Law, representing Yoo Eunseo, stated their client attempted su***de as a result of online
harassment from unidentified netizens threatening to dox and blackmail her. Eunseo’s real name was
mentioned in the comment sections of posts alleging Garam was a bully because people familiar with
Eunseo and Garam's history suspected Eunseo authored the posts. Daeryun/Eunseo claimed HYBE's
statements defending Garam intensified the threats.

From Daeryun Law Firm’s statement. Translation by Koreaboo.

Claim 2: The Ministry of Education confirmed Kim Garam committed

physical assault

FALSE.
An official from the ministry only used speculative language to acknowledge the mere existence of a
School Violence Committee (SVC) document with Garam named as the perpetrator. “School violence” ≠
physical assault or bullying as it encompasses a range of prohibited behaviors from defamation to
intoxication.
 Article 2 of Korea’s School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act.

It’s important to note that the official only used the speculative word “보인다” which directly translates to
“appears” or “seems”. Various kpop news sites chose to ignore this term and misrepresented the official
as if they were speaking objectively or had direct knowledge of the school’s confidential documents.

Original article from Naver. Translation from PannChoa.

Original korean article from Naver, showing the official using speculative language

Additionally, under Article 21 of the School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act, it is illegal
for anyone, other than the victim student, aggressor student or their guardians, to disclose the minutes
of an SVC report. Even when publicized by any of the three permitted parties, personal information
such as the involved parties’ name(s) must always be redacted. A government official would know this.
 Article 21 of Korea’s School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act.

Claim 3: The assailant can receive a "Level 5" disciplinary action

without committing physical assault

TRUE.
The level # is unrelated to the type and severity of the offense because there are so many variables
among schools, according to HYBE's statement.
Here are three points of reference that support their claim:

1. An official from the Ministry of Education backs up HYBE's claim that every school is different in how
they apply disciplinary measures due to the "autonomous nature and different tendencies of
participating experts."
 Original article from Naver. Translation by Pann Choa.

HYBE’s statement is consistent with the Ministry of Education’s.

HYBE’s statement. Translation by Soompi.

2. Daeryun/Eunseo's official statement did not reference any physical violence by Garam. They used
the umbrella term abuse and only called out Garam's "cursed-filled, threatening text messages."

Daeryun Law Firm statement. Translation by Koreaboo.

3. The Ministry of Education official school database shows that in Gyeongin Middle School, there were
no cases categorized under physical assault or even bullying during the year 2018, semester 1,
when Garam was disciplined. All four assailants, including Garam, were qualified under obscenity,
violence, and cyberbullying in information and communication networks, or overall “violence” via
text messaging and social media. This aligns with the "curse-filled, threatening text messages"
mentioned in Daeryun's statement.
 Ministry of Education (KERIS) school database
(showing that there were no physical violence or bullying incidents in 2018 semester 1 when Garam/Eunseo’s case occurred).

Article 2 of the School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act also clearly distinguishes
between Obscenity, Violence, and Cyberbullying. They are subcategories under the Information and
Communication Networks main category.

Article 2 of Korea’s School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act.

Based on official public data from the Ministry of Education, Garam has received a Level 5 disciplinary
action only for her cursed-filled messages sent to Eunseo via information & communication networks.

Also see “Level 5 as an ‘Add-On’” under Other Notes.

Claim 4: Level 5 is the highest disciplinary action a Korean middle

school can take against violence assailants

FALSE.
The chart below, which summarizes all the disciplinary actions Gyeongin Middle School took from
2018-2021, shows that disciplinary actions do go beyond level 5.
 Ministry of Education (KERIS) school database.
To view it yourself, scroll down to “How to access the Ministry of Education school database”.

This is official, publicly verifiable data sourced from the Ministry of Education.

Claim 5: Level 5 is a “rare and exceptional” punishment only for

serious offences

FALSE.
As shown by the table in “Claim 4,” Level 5 was in fact the most common disciplinary action taken
by Gyeongin Middle School (alongside Level 1) with almost no Levels 2, 3 and 4 punishments given.
The Korean Education Newspaper confirms that, across Korea, Level 5 is more common than 3 & 4
and suggests that schools find it preferable as it is “more convenient than No. 3 & 4 - community
service”.

The official School Violence standards (chart below) show that Levels 2 (Prohibition of Contact) & 5
(Special Education) are the only disciplinary actions that are EXEMPT from the severity
judgment score on the grading rubric.
 School Violence - Article 17 punishment standard (full size)

An SVC lawyer pointed out Level 5 is usually an “add-on” to supplement another disciplinary measure.
Therefore, it’s actually difficult to judge the severity of Garam’s offense solely on the basis of her
receiving only a Level 5 punishment. (See more in “Other notes” below)

In conclusion, a Level 5 (Special Education) punishment is no more severe than any other level
and this is supported by the Education Ministry official’s statement about the intensity of measures
differing depending on the school.

Claim 6: The School Violence Committee (SVC) document is proof of

Kim Garam being a bully and HYBE contradicted themselves by
acknowledging the SVC while maintaining she is a victim of bullying.

FALSE.
Bullying is not interchangeable with School Violence (which can vary from intoxication to verbal abuse).
In general, bullying is defined as aggressive or violent behavior that includes two key elements:
(1) power imbalance (be it social standing or physicality) and (2) repetition.
 Article 2 of Korea’s School Violence Prevention and Countermeasures Act.

As shown in “Claim 3”, the Ministry of Education’s public school database has a separate category for
bullying, which indicates that not every SVC case was opened to address bullying as a default.
Garam’s SVC did not penalize her under “bullying.”

Ministry of Education (KERIS) school database

(showing that there were no physical violence or bullying incidents in 2018 semester 1 when Garam/Eunseo’s case occurred).

HYBE also defined “bullying” as an action that is “one-sided” and “habitual” in their official statement.
Based on that premise and their understanding of what led to the SVC, they don’t see Garam’s actions
as bullying, either, but rather, an act of defense to protect a friend (more on this in “Claim 9”).

HYBE’s statement. Translation by Soompi.

Based on official publicly verifiable information, Garam has received a Level 5 disciplinary action only
for abusive text messages.
Claim 7: HYBE has no proof nor evidence. Their statements are
“according to Kim Garam.”

HYBE cites the same School Violence Committee (SVC) document as evidence of Kim Garam's
non-violent actions and to explain they were a direct response to Eunseo's offense of publishing a
photo of Garam’s friend in their underwear.

HYBE’s statement. Translation by Soompi.

HYBE is also collecting third-party testimonies and proofs to build a case as they move forward with
legal action to clear Garam’s name.

HYBE’s statement. Translation by Soompi.

Claim 8: Kim Garam was disciplined under Article 16 and 17, which
means that she harassed a disabled student and was issued a
restraining order.

FALSE.
This is an erroneous interpretation of the articles by Twitter lawyers as there are subpoints and nuances
to each Article.

According to Daeryun/Eunseo's official statement, Garam and her parents received six and five hours
of special education, respectively, as punishment under Article 17-1-5.

Daeryun Law Firm statement. Translation by Koreaboo.

Article 17-1-2 would have been a “restraining order.”

Prevention and Countermeasure of School Violence Act

Moreover, if Garam had harassed a disabled student, the victim would have been protected in
accordance with Article 16-2, but Eunseo received care under Article 16-1-1, according to her
statement.

Prevention and Countermeasure of School Violence Act

Claim 9: HYBE has since admitted the bullying allegations are true and
issued an apology on behalf of Kim Garam.

FALSE.
While HYBE did apologize on behalf of Kim Garam for the verbal confrontation that led to her SVC
record, they do not consider it bullying. Bullying is defined as ongoing harassment while the
confrontation was an episode triggered by Eunseo's wrongdoing with Garam acting in defense.

HYBE’s statement. Translation by Soompi.

Claim 10: HYBE's statements have been inconsistent.

FALSE.
HYBE has maintained Kim Garam was a victim of bullying throughout all their official statements.
 HYBE’s statements. Translation by Soompi.

Claim 11: HYBE is settling with Yoo Eunseo/Daeryun Law.

When asked by Korean news outlet JoongAng Ilbo for a follow up to HYBE’s latest statement, Daeryun
Law said they were “discussing a solution with HYBE.” It is undisclosed who approached whom and
what are the terms.

Daeryun Law’s statement to to JoongAng Ilbo.

However, consider the sequence of events:

04/05 - HYBE called bullying allegations against Garam "malicious slander" and added that Garam,
herself, was a victim of bullying.

05/19 - Daeryun Law and Yoo Eunseo, an alleged victim of Kim Garam, came forward with a School
Violence Document, threatening to release the full contents if HYBE does not retract their statement
that Kim Garam was a victim and apologize.

05/20 - HYBE maintains that Kim Garam was a victim of bullying, and added that Yoo Eunseo was one
of her bullies. HYBE goes into detail the events that led up to the SVC, which were also recorded in the
document itself: Yoo Eunseo uploaded an unauthorized photo of Garam’s friend in her underwear onto
SNS, which then prompted Garam to confront Eunseo and verbally attack her.

Present day - Daeryun Law has not followed up on their threat of releasing the full contents of the SVC
despite the lack of a retraction and an apology from Hybe.

Claim 12: There is mounting evidence against Kim Garam.

Is there?

None of the alleged personal photos of Kim Garam that have gone viral depict the young woman
engaging in any violence or criminal activity.
Thus far, the only valid piece of information that could support the bullying allegations against Garam is
the School Violence Committee (SVC) document.

However, HYBE stated that the SVC will clarify that Garam was defending her friend from the alleged
victim’s harmful actions and there was no physical assault involved, which the alleged victim’s legal
counsel has not refuted. The SVC is also not categorized under physical assault or bullying in
Gyeongin Middle School’s public database.

From Yoo Eunseo’s side, they can provide the threatening text messages Garam sent, to which HYBE
acknowledged, that resulted in the Level 5 punishment. Unlike HYBE’s statements, Daeryun
Law/Eunseo did not reference additional witnesses or testimonies other than her own. What is the most
particular, however, is Daeryun Law threatened to release a description of Garam’s heinous abuse:

From Daeryun Law Firm’s statement. Translation by Koreaboo.

The heinous abuse that conveniently escaped the rigorous trial and record-keeping of the School
Violence Committee and, therefore, cannot be verified.

How to access the Ministry of Education school

database
This official public school database is provided by KERIS, which is a government organization under
the South Korean Ministry of Education.

Use a browser that can translate the webpage into English.

LINK: https://schoolinfo.go.kr/ei/ss/pneiss_a03_s0.do

Filter with the following criteria and search.

Middle School > Seoul > Guro-gu > Gyeongin Middle School
A separate window should pop up.
> Scroll down and select 2019 and hit select. (2019 pulls up the 2018 school year.)
> Click the “Educational conditions” tab.
> Click “Operational Status and Deliberation…” (seventh bullet point from the right)
> There should be a captcha to access this page, unlike the others.
***The page title is usually 11-c School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee***

This is how it would look in Korean. The SVC data is the seventh bullet point from the right.
Therein lies the SVC statistics taken for the year 2018.

Both HYBE and Daeryun Law confirmed Garam’s case was opened June 2018, which corresponds to
the first semester in Korea.
Table 5 briefly describes what each disciplinary level entails.
Level 1 = written apology, Level 2 = no contact with the victim, Level 3 = school service, et cetera, and
so on and so forth.

We counted these actions from 2018-2021 to come up with the table in “Claim 4.”

Other Notes
MEASURE TAKEN FOR VICTIM STUDENT
Daeryun said that Yoo Eunseo received the Article 16 Level 1 measure (which is the lowest of
measures provided for victim students) The levels of measures provided for victim students are as
follows:

1. Psychological counseling or advice by experts from within and outside school;

2. Temporary protection;
3. Treatment and recuperation for treatment;
4. Change of class;
5. (Measure removed in 2012)
6. Other measures necessary for the protection of a victim student.

This is not suggesting that victims of more serious offences do not also get provided with only a Level 1
measure. However, if an assailant was given a “restraining order” like some “twitter lawyers” suggest,
the victim should also be provided Level 2 “Temporary Protection”, however Yoo Eunseo did not.

**UPDATED 06/07**

LEVEL 5 AS AN ‘ADD-ON’ DISCIPLINARY MEASURE

An SVC lawyer pointed out Level 5 is usually an “add-on” to supplement another disciplinary measure.
Therefore, it’s actually difficult to judge the severity of Garam’s offense solely on the basis of her
receiving only a Level 5 punishment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbLZKmH36Ic

This may be the case for Gyeongin Middle School, as the school’s SVC would assign more than a
Level 5 punishment to the perpetrators of physical assault, as shown in its records.

2019 –
Total = 10 SVC cases, 16 perpetrators, 27 disciplinary measures were taken.

An example of the perpetrators qualifying for multiple types of “violence”

Semester 1 = five SVCs but they each qualified for at least two different categories of violence for a
total of 11 (physical violence =6, verbal violence = 4, etc = 1)
Semester 2 = five SVCs, also average of two categories of violence each for a total of 11 (physical
violence = 7, extortion = 4)

Perpetrator students receiving more than one punishment

Semester 1 = Seven perpetrators > 12 disciplinary actions
Semester 2 = Nine perpetrators > 15 disciplinary actions
 Ministry of Education (KERIS) school database

The fact that there were more disciplinary measures taken than “perpetrator students” means students
who may have committed more severe forms of violence received more than one punishment each,
e.g. a Level 1 + Level 5.

EVIDENCE FOR SOME POTENTIAL CYBERBULLYING ENDURED BY GARAM:

https://twitter.com/jeonsmilftae/status/1531609034050220033?s=20&t=0JDHDJ-mCm1x79hsUOkBog

REFERENCES
HYBE/SOURCE MUSIC
1st Official Statement (220405) -
Primary source: https://twitter.com/SOURCEMUSIC/status/1511559235766992896
Eng translation:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1520824wpp/source-music-releases-statement-denying-school-bullying
-rumors-against-le-sserafims-kim-garam

2nd Official Statement (220519) -

Primary source: https://www.topstarnews.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=14693348
Eng translation:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1527089wpp/hybe-shares-response-to-le-sserafims-kim-garams-allege
d-victims-new-statement
3rd Official Satement (220520) -
Primary source: https://twitter.com/SOURCEMUSIC/status/1527507023717249025
Eng translation:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1527206wpp/hybe-releases-detailed-statement-regarding-le-sserafims-
kim-garams-school-violence-allegations-kim-garam-to-temporarily-halt-activities

RE: Level 5 (250520) -

Primary source: https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=01105366632331216&mediaCodeNo=258
Eng Translation:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1527305wpp/hybe-responds-to-skepticism-about-why-kim-garam-receiv
ed-degree-5-disciplinary-action-if-no-physical-assault-took-place

DAERYUN LAW FIRM

Original Statement (220519) - https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/now/article/477/0000360189
Eng translation (220519) - https://www.koreaboo.com/news/victim-kim-garam-bullying-steps-forward/
“Discussing a solution” (220424) - https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25073639#home

“MINISTRY OF EDUCATION” (220520)

Primary source: https://n.news.naver.com/entertain/article/144/0000814274
Eng translation: https://www.pannchoa.com/2022/05/theqoo-comment-about-ministry-of.html

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (KERIS) SCHOOL DATABASE -

https://schoolinfo.go.kr/ei/ss/pneiss_a03_s0.do

PREVENTION AND COUNTERMEASURE OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE ACT -

https://law.go.kr/LSW/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=199081&viewCls=engLsInfoR&urlMode=engLsInfoR#0000

KOREAN ENGLISH LAWS https://elaw.klri.re.kr/kor_service/lawView.do?lang=KOR&hseq=55092

Korean School Violence - Perpetrator measure standards

https://law.go.kr/LSW/admRulLsInfoP.do?admRulSeq=2100000188417#AJAX