Korean Woman Recalls How She Was Tortured With A Curling Iron In School The Same Way As Song Hye Kyo’s Character In The Glory

By now you would have heard of K-drama The Glory, which stars Song Hye Kyo as a former victim of school bullying who sets out to exact revenge on her tormentors.

Since its debut on Netflix last December, the drama has brought renewed attention to school bullying cases in South Korea.

A particularly graphic scene in the show, where Song Hye Kyo's bully is seen burning her with a curling iron, left audiences in shock.

In real life, the “curling iron incident” drew close parallels to a 2006 case in Cheongju, where a middle school student was abused in the same way by her schoolmates.

The recent episode of Korean talk show Attack on Sisters, also featured a young woman by the name of Seong Min, a former victim of school violence. She too was bullied in similar fashion to Hye Kyo’s character.

Seong Min said she appeared on the show because she wants her bullies to know how much she has suffered over the past 10 years.

Seong Min recalled an incident when she was in year three of school. Her bullies pressed a curling iron on her arm for five minutes, resulting in second degree burns which have scarred her skin permanently.

Her two bullies would also take their anger out on her by throwing things at her and beating her up when they felt like it.

According to Seong Min, she once suffered a beating so bad, it tore her iris.

Most shocking of all was how Seong Min was once forcefully taken to her bully’s house. There, they locked her up for three days without food, and hit her on several occasions.

Seong Min is haunted by the bullying till this day.

For example, she shivers in fear when she visits the beauty salon. When her stylist takes the curling wand out to style her hair, she would cautiously tell them not do anything too elaborate.

The hosts were shocked to hear of Seong Min’s past experiences, and wanted to know if her parents realised that something awful was going on.

Turns out, her parents and the parents of her bullies all had full-time jobs and would only be home late at night.

During those days when she was 'abducted', Seong Min's bullies lied to her parents by saying she “ran away from home” and that she would “attempt suicide if she returned”.

They told her parents that they were letting Seong Min stay at their home, and lied to their own parents that she had run away from home.

When Seong Min attempted to stand up against her bullies, they threatened to harm her younger brother and cause a scene at her house when her parents were not at home.

Seong Min revealed that the bullying only stopped when her wound burst when she was in school, staining her uniform with pus.

Her teacher noticed it and the school started a campus violence committee to punish the two bullies for their actions.

However, Seong Min’s bullies did not acknowledge their misdeeds, and continued to smile at her even when they apologised.

Seong Min was unlucky enough to run into her bullies again when they enrolled in the same university.

She recalled them walking to her and asking: “Oh I know you! What course are you studying now?”

According to Seong Min, she was so terrified, she couldn’t help but tremble in fear. She was also furious at how they acted like there was nothing wrong at all.

Seong Min said she is only able to fall asleep without sleeping pills thanks to the support she has received from her close friends. She also hopes to put her past trauma behind her.

One time, she came across the social media pages of her bullies, and found out that they are currently registered nurses who are active in volunteer work.

“It makes me very angry, and [I’m] so shocked that I can’t help but get goosebumps,” she said.

Viewers also agreed with Seong Min, with many saying that the bullies “should have their nursing and volunteering qualifications taken away, as they might harm patients as well”.

Others also cheered Seong Min on.

“That’s right, taking revenge means letting them see how you’re doing now. You have to go on and live your life [well], all the best!” wrote one netizen.

Photos: ETToday, Channel S/ YouTube

You can watch the clip of Seong Min talking about her experience as a school violence victim below. (Note that it is only available in Korean)