As unverified online rumors spread claiming that internet broadcaster and YouTuber Park Wi (39), who runs the channel "Weracle," was involved in school violence and sent to a juvenile detention center during his high school years, a netizen identifying himself as Park's high school classmate has stepped forward to refute the allegations by sharing their graduation album.

On the 21st, Park uploaded a CCTV video to his YouTube channel claiming that he was tripped by a social service agent's foot while using the KTX and fell onto the station platform, which instead drew public criticism. Although Park deleted the video and apologized, the fallout has not subsided.

Following this controversy, unverified rumors began surfacing online consecutively.

Among them was the claim that Park had been sent to a juvenile detention center for school violence during his high school years. The rumor alleged that Park inflicted injuries on another student during his enrollment, resulting in the victim receiving a four-week medical diagnosis, and that Park was sent to a juvenile detention center before returning to school.

In response, on the 30th, a post refuting the claims was uploaded to an online community by an individual identified as A, who stated they are a graduate of the 57th class of Yongsan High School in Seoul alongside Park. A stated that they were in the same class as Park during their first year of high school, and although their interaction decreased when students split into humanities and science tracks in their second year, they still played soccer together during weekly club activities.

A argued that the names "Koo OO" and "Song OO," who were mentioned as victims in the initial rumor post, do not appear in the graduation album. "No matter how much I look through the graduation album, those two names do not appear," A said, adding, "This is malicious dissemination of false information." Regarding the rumors of a juvenile detention disposition and dropping out and returning to school, A refuted them, saying, "I have never heard of such a thing. If something like that had happened, the entire school would have known."

Furthermore, A described Park by saying, "Because of his tall height and build, students in the same class were nervous at the beginning of admission thinking he might be an iljin (school bully), but his actual personality was completely the opposite. Friends liked Park for his pure and mannered demeanor." A added, "He studied hard and was good at sports, giving a positive influence to his classmates. I have never once seen Park bully or tease anyone."

The author A stated, "I have no intention of defending Park regarding criticisms that he behaved rudely toward a KTX worker or that his lecture fees are excessively high," but noted, "As someone who saw Park closely during our school days, I wrote this post because I wanted to make it known that the school violence suspicions are not true."



(Photo: SBS Entertainment News, reported by Kang Kyung-yoon)