An anonymous netizens has stepped forward with the claim that the newly added 'NCT Universe : LASTART' trainee Kim Daeyoung was an "iljin", or "school bully". 

On the most recent episode of 'NCT Universe : LASTART' aired on August 17, the competition intensified with the introduction of a new competitor, Daeyoung. 

A few days later on August 19 KST, an anonymous netizen who claimed to be a former school mate of Kim Daeyoung raised the claim that the competition show contestant was "from a famous 'iljin' group in Daegu". 

The netizen wrote, "I went to the same school as him. Whenever new kids moved to the school, his 'Iljin' group always took them to the bathroom and did some kind of hazing. The always rolled up pieces of paper to smoke and fought all the time. They even broke the school wall while going berserk...", and more.

Other netizens commented in response, "Since when did SM care about their idols' bad personalities", "Okay is he really an SM trainee? With those visuals?", "I'm starting to think it really was better when agencies recruited trainees at a young age, and educated them on how to behave as idols from the beginning", "I don't know if this will become a huge issue when it's not like he's a confirmed member of the debut team. Should've waited until a week after debut to blow it up kekekekeke", "Is that really the same person as the one in the middle school graduation album?", and more.