The side of actor Shim Eun-woo, who was embroiled in a school violence controversy, has once again asserted innocence while summarizing the situation to date.

On the 21st, Shim Eun-woo's side stated, "In the investigation process, there has been clear evidence that Shim Eun-woo is not the perpetrator of school violence, which is also specified in the investigation results. The individual named A, who is mentioned in the exposé, is a different party. While it is difficult to punish A, we obtained meaningful results through the investigation process that made it difficult to confirm 'whether there was school violence.'"

Shim Eun-woo was embroiled in school violence accusations in March 2021. A has claimed that Shim Eun-woo was a prominent bully during middle school and that they were subjected to group bullying under his leadership. At the time, Shim Eun-woo stated, "I realized that my immature words and actions during my school years had left deep emotional scars on my friend. I am genuinely sorry."

Two years later, in March 2023, he expressed his feelings, saying, "Initially, I had no idea who wrote the article, and I learned about it through a friend's contact. My agency and I could not unconditionally acknowledge something we had no recollection of, so we denied it, and contrary to our intentions, it led to a truth battle. The producer of the drama "Flying Butterfly" and my agency met with that friend and her sister to apologize, and posting my apology on social media was seen as an acknowledgment of school violence."

Shim Eun-woo filed a criminal complaint against A for defamation, but the police determined that A would not be charged for lack of evidence. Shim Eun-woo's side explained, "For the crime of defamation by factual assertion to be established, it must be proven that A was aware it was false when writing the article. However, A continues to believe that Shim Eun-woo is the perpetrator, so intent is not recognized, leading to the decision not to charge due to insufficient evidence."

Nevertheless, "Shim Eun-woo has lost the lifelong dream job of being an actor and continues to suffer from extreme malicious comments and ridicule while being wrongfully accused," and said, "To prevent Shim Eun-woo's past from being distorted any further, and to allow him to live free from misunderstandings and false accusations, we hope that the baseless dissemination of false information will cease, allowing Shim Eun-woo to regain his courage."

The following is the full statement from Shim Eun-woo's side.

#Timeline summary

- A, a middle school classmate of Shim Eun-woo, identified him as a perpetrator of school violence and repeatedly edited and added content to the original post written four years ago. The original post stated that there was no physical violence, but last year, A suddenly changed their statement and added that Shim Eun-woo had committed assault, sending a verified document.

- After that, A spread false information claiming that they had sought forgiveness from the agency through a second post. When the agency protested, A changed their statement to apologize and revised the post four times.

- A witness who was directly involved in a dispute with A at the time appeared and specifically explained that Shim Eun-woo was not involved. They conducted statements and interviews, but A did not accept this.

- Despite specific testimonies from actual parties involved in the case, A suggested that they take a lie detector test. However, A did not comply, while Shim Eun-woo willingly underwent the test. The result showed that there was no evidence proving Shim Eun-woo's statement was false.

- Many classmates and homeroom teachers testified that there was no incident as claimed by A, and even all individuals mentioned by A in the posts responded that such events did not occur. A is the only one making such claims.

- A's father contacted the second-year homeroom teacher and requested, "Since the first-year homeroom teacher wrote a statement for A, please write one too." However, the first-year homeroom teacher had never written a statement, and the second-year homeroom teacher refused to write one, stating that they could not lie.

- A, who originally just wanted an apology, overturned their stance and suddenly demanded money along with a document instructing Shim Eun-woo to stop appealing their grievance.

- It is not easy for a request for a reinvestigation to be accepted in practical terms; however, the necessity for a reinvestigation in this case has been recognized and is being conducted. This is an extremely rare case nationwide.

- For the crime of defamation to be established, it must be proven that A wrote the post while aware it was false. However, A continues to believe and assert that Shim Eun-woo committed violence, even with the parties involved appearing, which ultimately led to the "not to prosecute" decision.

- In other words, even if there was no harassment by Shim Eun-woo, if A believed so and wrote it, intent would not be recognized, and thus they cannot be punished.

- The "not to prosecute" decision is not an acknowledgment of school violence but rather indicates that the suspect cannot be punished. The investigation results stated that "it is difficult to determine whether school violence occurred objectively."

- At the time, the producer of the drama in which Shim Eun-woo was filming had to send an email explaining the circumstances that led to the apology being written. Additionally, they conveyed a sincere apology to Shim Eun-woo regarding the choices made that day.

1. The reason for issuing a statement despite the 'not to prosecute' decision

The 'not to prosecute' decision does not mean school violence is acknowledged but rather that the suspect cannot be punished for defamation.

In the course of the investigation, clear evidence has emerged that Shim Eun-woo is not the perpetrator of school violence, which is also specified in the investigation results.

The individual named A, who is mentioned in the exposé, is a different party. To correct the truth, the party has completed interviews explaining the situation in detail and writing statements, but A has repeated unilateral claims without accepting the facts, leaving us helpless.

Moreover, A's father contacted the second-year homeroom teacher and requested, "Since the first-year homeroom teacher also wrote a statement, please have them write one as well," but upon confirmation, the first-year homeroom teacher had never written a statement. Of course, the second-year homeroom teacher also refused to write a statement, insisting that they could not lie.

The homeroom teacher's additional explanation was that if the child had faced such a situation due to school violence, the parents would have come to the school for counseling, or at least made a phone call, yet there was never even a single instance of such happening.

Additionally, Shim Eun-woo has investigated and contacted individuals regarding all of A's claims, but no one has confirmed that such events took place. For example, A's sister, Lee △△ (pseudonym), mentioned in a secondary 'targeted' post on Nate Pann, "My younger sibling asked me to say this: I became friends with Jo*si, and the next day, they told me, 'I heard you've done something bad,' even though I had no issues with that friend."

However, upon checking with the classmate referred to as 'Jo*si,' it turned out that the classmate does not even remember any events claimed by A. A further expressed a desire to stop causing distress to many people by writing malicious posts and even stated that they would like to have a conversation directly with A.

Nevertheless, for the crime of defamation by factual assertion to be established, it must be proven that A wrote the article while aware that it was false. However, since A continues to believe that Shim Eun-woo is the perpetrator, the intent is not recognized, leading to the determination of insufficient evidence and the "not to prosecute" decision. Thus, while it is difficult to punish A, we were able to obtain meaningful results through the investigation process that made it hard to confirm 'whether school violence occurred'. Though we cannot reclaim the lost time, we felt the need to disclose this process in hopes that Shim Eun-woo can emerge from the wrongful accusations.

2. A recent apology received from the producer of the work at the time

In 2021, Shim Eun-woo was filming a project that was already significantly underway. Concerned that it might harm the project, he repeatedly requested to meet with A to clarify any misunderstandings, but A refused all meeting requests. Subsequently, A leaked the content of the first phone call with Shim Eun-woo to media outlets or called media offices directly to express their unilateral position, continuing behavior that is hard to understand.

Contrary to Shim Eun-woo's original intentions, the incident escalated further, and the production company consulted with A on their desires. Shim Eun-woo was then asked to write an apology letter on the condition that he would not withdraw from the ongoing project. Even though the letter was written to fully reflect A's demands for confirmation and revision, the exposé filled with lies still remains online, stating that it was not a genuine apology.

Amidst this, last July, Shim Eun-woo received an apology email from the producer of the drama that was being filmed at the time of the incident. The producer expressed genuine regret that the creation of the apology letter was misinterpreted by the production staff as an acknowledgment of school violence.

Hello, this is Producer Kim O-sik from "Flying Butterfly"

At the point where over half of the filming for the drama "Flying Butterfly" in 2021 had been completed, the issue of actor Shim Eun-woo's school violence allegations came to light, leading to heavy internal deliberations. Typically, when such controversies arise, the involved actor and production team face immense pressure to withdraw, regardless of the truth. During that time, both sides engaged in public debates regarding the facts, and various opinions were discussed. After extensive deliberation, the production team concluded not to remove the actor from the project.

Reflecting now, what weighs heavily on my mind is that the publication of the apology letter was immediately interpreted by the media as an ‘acknowledgment of school violence by actor Shim Eun-woo’, which was contrary to the true intentions of the production team. I regret not having considered enough how the reflection on 'immature words and actions during school years' would limit Shim Eun-woo's future endeavors. I extend my sincere apologies to actor Shim Eun-woo who has endured painful times since then.

3. Do not appeal any longer about being wronged. I will not meet. However, I demand monetary compensation.

Contrary to expectations that the appearance of the actual parties who claimed to have disputed with A during their school days would clarify misunderstandings, A instead wrote a second post suggesting a lie detector test. Furthermore, even after the first lawsuit, A once again expressed their position to the media, implying that the 'not to prosecute' decision acknowledged Shim Eun-woo's school violence as fact. A revealed to the media their feelings of injustice, but also sent documents instructing Shim Eun-woo not to complain about the injustice, but to also seek monetary compensation.

Shim Eun-woo has withdrawn from all projects he had agreed to star in after being labeled a perpetrator of school violence, and the projects he filmed at that time have yet to be aired. He has endured more than four years of unstable living conditions and feels uncertain about how to live in the future. In this situation, where will additional money come from, and they are being told not to even express the anger they have had to endure?

4. The person known as 'A' still exists under that pseudonym while Shim Eun-woo's name and face are widely known.

From the beginning, Shim Eun-woo, whose name and face have been publicly revealed and has been branded as a 'school violence perpetrator' nationally, finds himself in stark contrast to the individual, who continues to lead a normal life behind the pseudonym A. It is regrettable that such a situation continues. Even to make a single statement, a heavy sense of responsibility weighs on me, leading to a very cautious approach. Therefore, it needed a long time to convey the current position.

Shim Eun-woo has lost the lifelong dream job of being an actor and continues to suffer from extreme malicious comments and ridicule while being wrongfully accused. Whenever a work or character dealing with school violence is presented to the public, Shim Eun-woo's name is mentioned. It is unimaginable how much longer he must endure this nightmarish time.

Despite consistently receiving psychological counseling to overcome this, Shim Eun-woo still complains of chest pain and frustration. Recently, he has developed tics, and his health has significantly deteriorated. The mental suffering of Shim Eun-woo's family members is also beyond description. Nonetheless, many people around him continue to support him as he strives to live once again.

Once again, I earnestly ask that you refrain from distorting Shim Eun-woo's past any further and allow him to live free from misunderstandings and false accusations, enabling Shim Eun-woo to regain his courage.

I sincerely thank everyone who has read this letter to the end.

[OSEN]