Actor Jung Woong-in has addressed the controversy surrounding allegations that he bullied juniors during his college years.
Jung appeared alongside director Jang Jin on the YouTube variety show "Zzanbro", released on October 12. Jung and Jang are known to be classmates from the Department of Theater at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Host Shin Dong-yeob, a college junior of theirs, directly addressed the past anecdotes concerning Jung.
Shin Dong-yeob said, "Since we are so close, I tease him and joke around half-seriously on broadcasts, but I was shocked when stories surfaced claiming he bullied juniors during school. What was meant to be shared playfully on variety shows got distorted." He added, "If I harbored such feelings personally, would I have begged the production team to cast Jung Woong-in when planning the sitcom 'Three Friends'?"
Shin also addressed the 'leg splits' anecdote mentioned on past broadcasts.
He said, "It wasn't done forcibly, but expressions like 'it tore' or 'it ruptured' made it sound that way. For me, capillaries burst if my legs go even slightly past 90 degrees." He also shared that as he tried to wrap up the story, he suddenly remembered that Jung has three daughters and thought, "Oh, that's not right."
Previously, actors Ahn Jae-wook and Lee Cheol-min, who also graduated from Seoul Institute of the Arts, sparked controversy after mentioning on variety shows that they avoided Jung during their school days out of fear.
Regarding the rumors that began because of this, Jung said, "It is upsetting, but I have to endure it all moving forward."
When it was suggested that this image might have formed because he plays villains so well, Jung brought up an anecdote involving his daughters whenever he takes on villainous roles.
He shared that while riding in a car recently with his youngest daughter, an eighth grader, he asked her, "What do you think about Dad playing villains?" to which his daughter replied, "Don't you play villains because you are good at acting? Isn't it because villain roles require good acting that directors cast you?" Jung said, "For a moment, it was thrilling. It gave me a sense of pride, and made me feel that I need to do even better."
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)