Kim Hieora Responds To New Assault Allegations By Dispatch + Recording Of Phone Call With Alleged Victim

Kim Hieora’s agency has issued a formal response to Dispatch’s new report alleging that the actress was a perpetrator of school violence, including physical assault.

On September 9, Dispatch published a lengthy new three-part report about Kim Hieora, including a transcript of a phone call (which can be found below) between the actress and an alleged victim who claims to have been tormented by her during their middle school days.

In the phone call, the alleged victim (hereafter referred to as “H”) accused Kim Hieora of having hit her and her friends (“F” and “G”). In addition to claiming that Kim Hieora repeatedly “tormented” her in particular, “H” specifically recalls at one point, “That day, you hit ‘F’ until her nose bled, right?”

This wasn’t Dispatch’s first report about Kim Hieora: back on September 6, Dispatch published an initial report regarding accusations by Kim Hieora’s former classmates that the actress was part of an iljin (school bullying) group in middle school. This first report claimed that the group, named Big Sangji, was notorious for extortion, assault, verbal abuse, and more. According to the report, Kim Hieora gave an interview to Dispatch in which she apologized and admitted to having been a bystander to Big Sangji’s activities, though she claimed that she had never hit a friend or a younger student. At the time, however, Kim Hieora’s agency firmly denied the allegations made in the report. The agency stated that Kim Hieora had never participated in or admitted to participating in iljin activities or school violence, claiming that Big Sangji was not an iljin gathering.

Then, on September 9, Dispatch published a new follow-up report that refuted the claims by Kim Hieora’s agency—and which now included allegations of physical assault.

According to the new report, back in May, after hearing that someone had reached out to Dispatch about her alleged school violence, Kim Hieora attempted to track down and contact at least eight people she knew during middle school in order to stop them from coming forward with their stories. Including these eight people, Dispatch has now spoken to a total of 11 informants who have shared stories about Kim Hieora’s alleged school violence.

While Kim Hieora was able to meet and apologize in person to seven of the eight people she contacted—“A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” “E,” “F,” and “G”—she was unable to convince “H” to meet with her. (One of these seven meetings was a success: after Kim Hieora met with “A,” the initial informant who contacted Dispatch with allegations of school violence, “A” said they had resolved their misunderstandings and told Dispatch not to publish the evidence she had given them against Kim Hieora.)

Meanwhile, Dispatch reported that three additional informants—“I,” “J,” and “K”—have since reached out to them to share their own stories. Referring to Kim Hieora’s appearance in the hit drama “The Glory,” which tackles the subject of school violence, “K” remarked, “I still can’t forget Kim Hieora’s cursing. I had to hear that same cursing again in the drama.”

Finally, Dispatch released a transcript of part of a phone call between Kim Hieora and “H” in which Kim Hieora repeatedly apologizes to “H” and asks her to meet in person, saying that she is “thinking of self-reflecting.” Meanwhile, “H” makes it clear she has no intention of accepting the actress’s apology and continuously accuses her of school violence and assault.

Later that day, Kim Hieora’s agency responded to these allegations with a new statement of its own. The agency claimed that what had taken place between the actress and “H” was “an extremely personal matter” and that it was not “repeated bullying or assault.”

“The incident between Kim Hieora and ‘H’ is an extremely personal matter, and our agency does not admit to or agree with the claims made by ‘H,’” stated Gram Entertainment. “As mentioned in the phone call, ‘H’ and Kim Hieora used to be friends. However, Kim Hieora repeatedly suffered damage due to H’s behavior, and because of this, the two grew apart and wound up fighting. We are informing you that it was not repeated bullying or assault, as H claims.”

“In terms of the iljin activity and school violence mentioned in the exclusive report, it was not repeated or continuous,” continued Gram Entertainment, “and our agency wonders whether fights due to misunderstandings between friends is included. Just as we said in our first statement, we plan to carefully resolve each and every one of the misunderstandings mentioned in this controversy and by the publication that reported it.”

Gram Entertainment also stated that Dispatch’s transcript of the phone call had omitted certain parts of the conversation, and it therefore released its own partial transcript of the same call. Although the two transcripts overlap in some areas, they differ slightly in others, and some parts of the conversation are only included in either Dispatch’s transcript or in Gram Entertainment’s transcript.

You can read and compare the two different transcripts below.

The following excerpts of the phone call are from Dispatch’s transcript:

Dispatch

H: I knew [this scandal about] you would blow up one day.

Kim Hieora: That’s right. I’m sorry.

°

H: I think I’m the one whom you hit the most. Right?

Kim Hieora: [silence]

H: You only called me after “The Glory” ended, right?

Kim Hieora: Yeah. That’s right.

°

H: Eora. If you honestly wanted to apologize to me, I think you should have contacted me before “The Glory.”

H: I heard that after “The Glory” ended, someone reported you [to Dispatch] for school violence?

Kim Hieora: I contacted you because of that.

H: If that hadn’t happened, you probably wouldn’t have contacted me.

Kim Hieora: I kept thinking about you guys. Honestly, even before that, [I thought about you guys]…

H: Eora. Honestly, this just sounds like excuses to me. Do you know what I mean?

Kim Hieora: I can see how it might.

H: Right? So?

°

H: So?

Kim Hieora: I’m sorry.

H: And you admit that you hit me?

Kim Hieora: I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.

H: What’s the point of being sorry? It’s the truth. I’ve waited for this moment.

Kim Hieora: Can we meet up just once?

H: Do you know why I waited and didn’t agree to meet with you? All the other kids met with you. You went to see “E,” you met with “F,” and you met with “G” too. But do you know the reason I didn’t meet with you? Why should I have to meet with you?

Kim Hieora: Is what you want from me an admission [of guilt]?

H: You? Of course.

Kim Hieora: If that’s the case, I’ll admit it. But if you report this, all of your identities will be revealed.

H: Our identities? Why?

Kim Hieora: What’s important isn’t the truth or lies.

H: Eora. We’re the victims, and you’re the perpetrator. Our identities? Why does that matter? It’s not like we’re the ones who did anything wrong. You’re the one who did something wrong.

°

Kim Hieora: I’ll sincerely apologize to you every time, as many times as you need. I’m truly sorry.

H: Eora. You must be going through a really hard time right now, right? But what can I do about it? You need to go through a much, much harder time. Because I’ve been waiting for this moment. Did you plan on becoming famous while knowing all of this had happened? You’re amazing.

Kim Hieora: What do you think I need to do to ease your anger?

H: You’re asking what I think you need to do to ease my anger? Eora. Really. [sigh]

Kim Hieora: Can’t we meet up just once?

H: Why should I meet with you? I have a reason for not meeting with you. If [I wanted to], I would have met with you already. Isn’t that right? Because if I meet with you, it means that I’m accepting your apology.

Kim Hieora: You don’t have to accept my apology.

H: Eora. Really, it’d truly be better for you to just admit it and self-reflect.

°

H: Stop denying things.

Kim Hieora: I’m not denying everything.

H: So you didn’t hit me like that?

Kim Hieora: [Are you saying] I hit you lots and lots every single day…

H: You called me to the noraebang and hit me there, you hit me outside… because you were always tormenting me specifically.

Kim Hieora: I had to attend after-school classes… so I wasn’t always able to attend [Big Sangji’s] gatherings.

H: But [in your agency’s statement], you claimed you didn’t commit physical assault or verbal abuse? I thought you said you were going to take strong legal action against [those claims]?

Kim Hieora: The thing is…

H: How can you say things like that? You’re so confident.

Kim Hieora: [silence]

H: Tell me, Eora. I thought you said you were just a bystander. You said that with your own mouth.

H: But you weren’t a bystander. You didn’t hit us? You didn’t hit me?

Kim Hieora: [silence]

H: I think you were the one who tormented me the most. I can’t understand you.

Kim Hieora: I have my own memories, too…

H: I was on my way to do something, and you said, “You [censored] bitch, if you don’t come quickly, I’ll beat up ‘F’ and ‘G.’ I remember that time. It was a rainy day, and I remember the alley near [redacted] Middle School. That day, you hit “F” until her nose bled, right?

Kim Hieora: Me?

H: That’s right. Since you don’t remember.

Kim Hieora: I spoke to “F.” “F” also…

H: I knew you would have a school violence scandal one day. I waited for it, Eora. That’s why I didn’t agree to meet up with you. You know what I mean, right?

Kim Hieora: Yeah.

H: You’ve made money up until now, so it’s time for you to self-reflect now. Right? What do you mean, “bystander”? That’s not right…

°

Kim Hieora: Because I’m asking to meet up with you…

H: Be honest. You hit us. You tormented us.

Kim Hieora: Honestly, I don’t remember everything. But it’s true I did that to you.

H: You remember you did that to me, right?

Kim Hieora: We were on good terms in our first year [of middle school].

H: What use is our first year?

Kim Hieora: That’s why I thought of you even more often. Because I thought that you must have felt an even greater sense of betrayal and that you must have been even more hurt [than the others].

H: You especially tormented me in particular.

Kim Hieora: I’m sorry.

°

Kim Hieora: Please give me the chance to meet with you just once, anytime, and let me apologize to you in person.

H: I don’t want to hear an apology from you. If I did, I would have already met with you, like the other kids did. I’m telling you, I’ve waited for this moment. So I hope you eat your meals well. You know what I mean, right?

Kim Hieora: I’m sorry that I made you suffer up until now.

H: Let’s not talk anymore. I’m going to hang up now.

Meanwhile, the following excerpts of the phone call are from Gram Entertainment’s transcript:

Gram Entertainment

Kim Hieora: I have my own memories, too… in my memory, you weren’t at school.

H: I heard you beat up “F” until her nose bled?

Kim Hieora: Me?

°

H: Be honest. You hit us. You tormented us.

Kim Hieora: Honestly, I don’t remember everything. But it’s true I did that to you.

H: You remember you did that to me, right?

Kim Hieora: I even told “E” that I wanted to meet with you. Because I heard you had been waiting, and it was something I needed to handle, so there was nothing I could do about it. But we were on good terms in our first year [of middle school].

H: What use is our first year?

Kim Hieora: That’s why I thought of you even more often. Because I thought that you must have felt an even greater sense of betrayal and that you must have been even more hurt [than the others].

H: You especially tormented me in particular.

Kim Hieora: I’m sorry. You don’t have to understand my feelings… but if I try to explain. The things I’m worried about. What I’m worrying about most now is that if this gets posted, my friends or other kids who aren’t people you remember from the photo might be mentioned by their real names, and their identities may be revealed. There would be too many people suffering damage because of me.

H: What’s wrong with their identities being revealed? When they were all members of Big Sangji?

Kim Hieora: No, not those kinds of kids. Do you remember [redacted] or [redacted]?

H: Ah… kids who were nice? Because of Big Sangji?

Kim Hieora: Yeah.

H: But they were part of Big Sangji. Like you said, they were bystanders. Right? Like you said, they’re all bystanders. Isn’t it only right that they should be treated the same?

Kim Hieora: But they weren’t there.

H: I wouldn’t know.

Kim Hieora: But if those kinds of kids…

H: I want to exclude [redacted] and [redacted] from Big Sangji. I want to exclude only those two [from responsibility].

°

Kim Hieora: And I’m thinking of self-reflecting.

H: What is this all of a sudden? I heard the reports [about you] started from May 6. If that hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t have contacted me.

Kim Hieora: No, I would have contacted you. Even before that, I made an effort to ask for your number, but no one around me knew it.

H: You only contacted me in July.

Kim Hieora: The way I remember it, I contacted you in May…

H: Ah… why is the timing then [and not earlier]?

Kim Hieora: I kept thinking of only you.

H: So you should have contacted me before then. [After ‘The Glory,’] this only sounds like excuses.

Kim Hieora: I can see how it might. I’m really sorry.

H: It’s okay, what’s the point of being sorry? All I need to do is report you. I waited for this moment. It looks like you made it? You made it.

°

Kim Hieora: Is what you want from me an admission [of guilt]? Then I’ll admit it. But if you report this…

H: I’m waiting for your downfall. I don’t mind our identities being revealed. Because we’re the victims, and you’re the perpetrator. It’s not like we did anything wrong.

°

Kim Hieora: In my immature mind… of course, I can’t justify everything, but I don’t think of it as my having tormented a weak person for no reason. You weren’t a weak person there.

H: Why did you torment me?

Kim Hieora: Of course I shouldn’t have done this, but I think of this as my rationalization. In my memory, you, “E,” and “F” spent some time together with some guys. But then an older female student from another school cursed me out a lot and called me a slut. I wondered, “What’s this about?” And students from other schools who were passing by at the time also badmouthed me. Also, a teacher said I had smoked a cigarette in the alley and hit me a lot. But that was all you guys. I remember saying this, even though I shouldn’t have done it: I thought that I had suffered damage because of you, that you were the reason I was being badmouthed.

H: I see. Wow, what an amazing rationalization.

Kim Hieora: But none of this matters. What I said to “E” and “F” was the truth, and I was being sincere.

°

H: Now that the situation’s already wound up like this, I’m planning to meet with a reporter on Sunday. I’m not going to just stay quiet.

Kim Hieora: What do you think I need to do to ease your anger?

H: Right now, I want to kill you. So hold it in. You made a lot of money, isn’t that enough? Don’t deny things.

Kim Hieora: I’m not denying everything.

°

Kim Hieora: You’re saying I hit you lots and lots every single day? You weren’t at school.

H: You always called me to come meet you and then hit me.

Kim Hieora: Was I there? I had to attend after-school classes, so I wasn’t always able to attend [Big Sangji’s] gatherings. I’ll admit what I can.

H: Eora, why are you saying this? Even that day on the hill, did you or did you not surround me together with the other kids while accusing me of hitting [redacted]?

°

H: Even after I returned to school [the following year], you always waited for me outside.

Kim Hieora: After you returned to school?

H: I’m sure you’ll say you don’t remember. Wow, you’re scary.

Kim Hieora: Was that in our third year [of middle school]? Because in my memory, you dropped out that year. I’m sorry.

H: So why did you come to Sangji [Middle School] when you were a high school student? When I returned to school, you guys were in your first year of high school.

Kim Hieora: They went to see you [at our middle school]? I don’t know about this at all… I just found out now that you returned to our middle school [the following year]. I was there? Who was there? I’ll ask about it.

H: [Redacted] got married and even had kids. Amazing.

°

Kim Hieora: It’s okay for you to meet the reporter… but if you give me the chance, let me apologize. Because in a phone call or text messages, only information is passed back and forth…

H: I just hope you eat your meals well. You know what I mean, right?

Kim Hieora: I’m sorry that I made you live with these kind of wounds and anger up until now.

H: I’m going to hang up now.

 

 

cr: Soompi