Actress Shim Eun Woo opened up about being dubbed the next Park Yeon Jin.

On March 24th, Shim Eun Woo updated her Instagram with two lengthy posts explaining her thoughts after the success of 'The Glory' brought her news back in limelight. 

Previously in March 2021, Shim Eun Woo was embroiled in a controversy when an anonymous accuser 'A' took to an online community forum to expose the actress's alleged bullying during their middle school days. 'A' claimed that Shim Eun Woo had led a group of students to bully her through verbal abuse and by spreading false rumors. She then posted an apology on March 28th, 2021. 

On March 24th, she wrote: "Hello, Today I'm going to talk about something that's really hard to bring up. I have no idea what lies ahead for me afterward. I think it's probably going to get harder... 

Yes. It's been over two years since I've been labeled as a 'bully' and 'bully actress'. After the drama 'The Glory' aired in January of this year, I collected another label 'the next Park Yeon Jin'...

I'm not a famous actress, so I assume there are many who don't know about this.

In March of '21, I was accused as a bully and I apologized to that friend. The friend's anonymous accusation against me was that 17 years ago in the 7th grade she was bullied by Park Sori. 'After fighting with Park Sori, who was one of the popular kids in school, her group and she cussed at me when I passed by, set me and my best friend apart to ostracize me. I couldn't ride the bus due to the bullying so my parents drove me to school for two years. I was scared to go to classes, couldn't eat at school, or focus on studying. So I transferred to a different school when I was in 9th grade, followed by several more transfers after that. My family had difficult days then and I'm still having difficulty socializing even with therapies. I won't delete this post and I hope for a sincere apology.' This was the post.   

There was a process that led to a public apology 20 days after this post was published.

When I first came across the post, I had no idea who the author was until a friend contacted me and told me who it was. And once I knew who it was, I didn't hesitate to ask for her contact, and I got in touch with her sister. 

I thought listening to that friend's perspective was the right thing to do instead of straight-up denying it just because I didn't remember. But this came back to haunt me as 'if you really didn't remember, why did you call her first?'  

Here's how the call with her sister went like
(I'm so sorry that I don't remember, but I wish I could talk to her and if I really hurt her, I'd like to apologize - My sister doesn't want to talk to you or see you).

The next day after the call, countless news articles of alleged bullying were posted, and because I was unable to have any conversation with the friend, I and the agency at the time had no choice but to deny it. I couldn't simply admit to something I didn't remember. So that's how unintentionally there was a dispute over facts. 

At the time, I had been filming the drama 'Fly High Butterfly' for six months. I felt pressured and scared by the situation where the entire drama team was being hurt because of me. I repeatedly considered it over and over. I finally decided I should apologize even if I didn't intend to hurt someone if I caused such a situation in the old saying 'a frog dies by a stone thrown unintentionally.'  

The drama team could have dropped me from the show but they agreed not to as I decided to apologize. The PD personally visited her parents' home in Donghae and apologized repeatedly. Since the friend did not wish to face me, the PD and my agency at the time met with the friend and her sister in person and apologized on my behalf. And I made a sincere public apology on my Instagram. And that made me confirm the bullying. 

Since then, I reflected back on my life. Obviously, I was not a model student because I wouldn't have had this issue at all. And I'll be honest with you, I was greedy, selfish, jealous, and wanted to stand out when I was in 7th grade. 

But I still don't understand how I was the perpetrator who bullied her for two years. I still don't know what exactly caused me to get into the fight with that friend who was in a different class. I grew apart from that group of friends in 8th grade and hung out with other friends so I don't know if it was me or the other person in the initial group that she remembers who continued to bully her until she transferred in 9th grade. I also don't understand how no one from that group or the friend group I hung out with in 8th grade remembers her to this date. I'm not sure if all the fingers are pointed at me just because she remembers me as the first one who initiated the bullying because I never got a single phone call from the school or her family throughout the years. And the part where she accuses we ran a chicken restaurant but our family never did...There is no way for me to uncover all these questions. I have been staying busy training since I was in 8th grade so there was no reason to pick on one person continuously, so I am a little frustrated.    

Regardless, I don't want to deny everything. If I was ever part of her painful memories, I apologize and I sincerely meant it then and I mean it now.  

But it's very upsetting and hard for me when people think I was a bully for my entire school life, being dubbed the next Yeon Jin from 'The Glory.'

I also believe that bullying should be eradicated and that the villains in 'The Glory' should be punished. But all the hard work that I've done for my dream of being an actress is being disregarded by one anonymous post. I don't even know who's judging me but I'm pressured to stay low and reflect on myself. I'm being attacked by people who I don't even know, and I'm not getting any offers to do any projects. Multiple malicious comments and posts...I've tried deactivating Instagram and deleting comments so I don't see them, and that's how I've gotten to this point.  But I also have parents and family...From now on, I will not let it slide and will report it for punishment.

Now, I've been writing this post for a while with much consideration but I'm still scared that I won't be able to come back as an actress forever.

To the writer, director, and all the actors and staff of 'Fly High Butterfly', I'm so sorry to the point I can't put it into words. 

I'm so sorry for everything. I want to be good. I'm really sorry if I've hurt anyone even a little bit in the past...

Mom, dad, my family, and my loved ones
I'm so sorry. I love you."