The latest school bullying controversy that surfaced in the entertainment industry is focused on popular actor Nam Joo Hyuk. During the past few years, there have been countless school bullying scandals that have shaken up the entertainment world in South Korea.

However, this latest controversy seems to be a bit different from the others, as many netizens believe that the initial accuser may not have credible evidence. Additionally, the initial accuser had lost credibility after changing the claims he initially made after the actor's management agency stated they would take strict legal action.

With more alleged victims and also former classmates who stepped up to defend Nam Joo Hyuk, many netizens were put in a state of confusion as both sides made many alleged claims without solid evidence.

To clear up the air, on July 5, media outlet Dispatch revealed they interviewed 20 people from Nam Joo Hyuk's high school - 18 former classmates and two teachers who knew Nam Joo Hyuk during his high school days.

Dispatch began its article by explaining, "When school violence accusations are made, evidence such as a history of School Violence Committee and student records that reveal school bullying can put weight on the claims of the accusers. Nevertheless, just because the accuser posts only a graduation yearbook does not mean their claims can be simply brushed off." Therefore, Dispatch decided to investigate independently and find more details and witnesses to the accusation.

The first thing Dispatch did was to cross-check the claims of the initial accuser and the second victim, who claimed he was the one bullied by Nam Joo Hyuk. The initial accuser 'A' first claimed that his friend was bullied by Nam Joo Hyuk for six years in both middle school and high school. However, 'A' later changed his claims by saying his friend was bullied for only two years in high school after Nam Joo Hyuk's agency took legal action. 'A' also claimed that Nam Joo Hyuk would be physically violent and would send his friend to be a "shuttle" for snacks (allegedly forcing 'A' to retreive snacks for him). 

The second accuser, 'B,' provided more details of the bullying, adding that Nam Joo Hyuk would force him to do "Sparring" with other classmates. 'A' and 'B' both claimed that Nam Joo Hyuk was part of a group of bullies and would lead many of the bullying activities.

Since the details were provided by the two anonymous accusers, Dispatch decided to cross-check the information provided by these two individuals with 20 other individuals who went to school with Nam Joo Hyuk to check the credibility of the claims.

Some of the 20 individuals provided their real names. These individuals included former classmates and homeroom teachers who were well acquainted with Nam Joo Hyuk.

These are the names of the individuals who were interviewed by Dispatch: Seo Seok Hoon (classmate in his first year of high school), Lee (classmate in his first year of high school), Shin (classmate in his first year of high school), Park (classmate in his second year of high school), H (classmate in his second and third year of high school), L (classmate in his second and third year of high school), Shin (classmate in his third year of high school), S1 (classmate in his third year of high school), S2 (classmate in his third year of high school), Kim (classmate in his third year of high school), Jo Bu Hyung (alumnus), Lee (alumnus), Park (alumnus), Son (alumnus), Y1 (alumnus), Y2 (alumnus), J (alumnus), H (alumnus), Park Tae Gyu (Homeroom teacher of his first year), Hong Sung Man (homeroom teacher of his third year).

These individuals explained that the two initial accusers' claims are false and provided their own account(s) of Nam Joo Hyuk when he was in school. 

First, the 18 classmates and alumni of Nam Joo Hyuk explained that there was no bullying group or bullying culture in the school during that time. Shin, a classmate of Nam Joo Hyuk in the third year of high school, explained, "There were cliques back then just as there are cliques now. The studious ones hung out with one another and we hung out with the group of friends we clicked well with. I was like that and Nam Joo Hyuk was like that too." S1 and Shin also explained that the school was very strict when they went there. H and L also explained, "the punishment in our school back then was really severe. It was really strict. There was no culture of a group of bullies hanging out. If one student was picked on like that, the teachers would have taken issue with it and made a fuss." They added, "Maybe they felt threatened by a group of kids that did hang out together, but Nam Joo Hyuk was not part of it."

When asked about what type of student Nam Joo Hyuk was, Jo Bu Hyung and Seo Seok Hoon swore on their names and explained, "Nam Joo Hyuk is not someone who would pick on someone. He liked sports and Nam Joo Hyuk would even laugh off jokes people made about him. That's how good his personality is. Everyone liked him." Lee also added, "He also said nonsense that he would one day become a model. All of his friends laughed at him. But he really went to a modeling school after class, he liked basketball, and he slept a lot. The teachers trusted him because he had a sense of justice...haha."

Nam Joo Hyuk's homeroom teacher Park Tae Gyu explained, "Nam Joo Hyuk was a student who would tell everyone 'Guys, let's be quiet,' if his classmates were being noisy. If someone was fighting, he would mediate the two and say 'let's not fight guys.' I don't know what misunderstanding the accuser had but Nam Joo Hyuk is not a kid who was a bully."

In regards to "the snack shuttle," many people curtly denied that Nam Joo Hyuk told others to be his snack shuttle. H (classmate in second and third year) explained, "I can confidently say that the snack shuttle is a lie. I was so baffled after seeing the article and was about to write on a community site."

Shin (a classmate in the third year) also explained, "Nam Joo Hyuk and I always went to the store together. We went to buy snacks ourselves." L (a classmate in the second and third year) also explained why students would go to the store themselves instead of telling another classmate to go. He explained, "The store was where you go to meet people. If Nam Joo Hyuk told someone to be his snack shuttle, he would not have friends." Almunus J also explained, "Joo Hyuk liked going to the snack store. We were in different classes but I met with him often during break time. If he was to tell someone to be a snack shuttle for him, that news would spread across the school really fast and he would be an outcast actually."

The 18 individuals also talked about the "Sparring" that Nam Joo Hyuk allegedly led (forcing students to fight one another). 

The anonymous accuser B claimed, "Nam Joo Hyuk and his friends would create a circle at the back of the classroom and made us fight." However, L (a classmate in the second and third year) explained there was "sparring" but denied that it was Nam Joo Hyuk who instigated it. He explained, "To force someone to fight/spar makes no sense. I have no recollection of that. We did mimic the WWE wrestling matches though."

S1 and S2 also explained, "The guys in Nam Joo Hyuk's class joked around and did play wrestling, but Nam Joo Hyuk wasn't even part of it. I didn't even hear that Nam Joo Hyuk did sparring." Y1 also said the same thing. He explained, "There were a lot of guys who would  play wrestle in the back of the classroom during break time. But it wasn't something that was forced upon them. It was a group of guys just play wrestling and playfully pushing and bumping each other." H also claimed that he saw the same thing. He explained, "When I went to Nam Joo Hyuk's classroom a few times, there was play wrestling at the back. I saw P who would say 'you come out,' and wrestle with 'so and so (Rinda Man).' but that had nothing to do with Nam Joo Hyuk."

In regards to the phone incident (alleged stealing a teacher's phone to pay for a game item), Nam Joo Hyuk was actually the one who confronted the student who stole the teacher's phone. Nam Joo Hyuk's classmates explained that this incident was so significant that all of the students in the second year knew about it.

It all started when student P stole a teacher's phone and went on a P2P site to purchase something. The teacher later found out and became mad. Nam Joo Hyuk actually confronted P and asked him if he had done it.

Additionally, the classmates explained that during their school years, punishments were allowed, so the school was strict about the phone policy. Therefore, it was difficult to use phones in school. Teachers would collect the phones at the beginning of the school day and would return them to the students at the end. L explained, "If you were caught secretly using your phone, then teachers would confiscate it for a week. So you would be in big trouble if you were caught with a phone back then."

Lastly, Nam Joo Hyuk's homeroom teachers in the first and third years swore on their careers to defend Nam Joo Hyuk. Teacher Park Tae Gyuk explained, "I swear on my career. It was during the time when punishment was allowed. Even female teachers would carry around sticks. Mothers would bring sticks to the teachers asking us to hit their kids to make them into decent people. It was a time when bullying could not happen. Nam Joo Hyuk was an optimistic and adventurous kid. He also had a sense of justice. I liked that part of him and also rebuked him for it. There was no one who hated him. He's not the type to bully others."

Teacher Hong Sung Man also explained, "I remember Nam Joo Hyuk as one of the awesome male students that I taught. He helped his friends a lot. He wasn't good at studying but he was praised for his character and personality. One of his cons was that he was frequently late. Those times he would be punished but he never complained or rebelled against the teachers. He followed us well. What kind of bully would do that?"