Actor Jin Seon Kyu has shared a deeply personal and painful part of his past, revealing for the first time that he was a victim of school violence.
During an appearance on CBS TV’s YouTube channel Newly with CBS on February 12, Jin opened up about the hardships he faced growing up in a rural town in Jinhae. He described his family’s struggles to make ends meet and reflected on the difficult environment he was raised in.
In addition to dealing with domestic violence from his strict and patriarchal father, he also suffered from bullying at school.
My family was too busy trying to make ends meet in a tough environment.
— Jin Seon Kyu
Jin recalled that because he was naturally quiet, he often became a target. He explained that both older students and classmates would call him over when they were bored, only to hit and harass him for no apparent reason.
I was a quiet kid, so I was bullied a lot in high school. My upperclassmen and even my peers would call me over whenever they were bored, then beat me and torment me for no reason.
— Jin Seon Kyu
Realizing he needed to find a way to protect himself, Jin decided to take up Hapkido at a local gym. He soon discovered he had a knack for it, and as word spread about his skills, the bullying eventually stopped.
I thought, ‘This is going to end badly if I don’t do something.’ So, I started going to a local Hapkido gym, and it turned out I was pretty good at it. Once word spread at school that I was skilled in martial arts, they stopped bothering me.
— Jin Seon Kyu
Jin began his acting career in theater in 2004 before transitioning to the screen. He gained recognition for his roles in films such as The Outlaws, Extreme Job, Space Sweepers, and Alienoid. He has also appeared in hit K-Dramas, including One the Woman, Through the Darkness, and The Uncanny Counter.
Source: MBC
