Poppin' Hyun Joon (Park Hyun-joon), 46, a pioneering popping dancer who recently stepped down from his professorship at Baekseok Arts University after admitting he verbally berated students, is now facing a string of assault allegations from former colleagues and trainees.
On Dec. 15, JTBC’s news program "Crime Chief" aired accounts from two individuals who say the dancer assaulted them roughly two decades ago.
One accuser said that while Hyun Joon’s recent resignation suggests progress, the culture years ago was far harsher. He claims he was punched, kicked and slapped; his glasses were bent in the scuffle, and a blow to the ear damaged his eardrum, leaving him with partial hearing loss in one ear.
He also recalled returning from an out-of-town show when, at a highway rest stop, Hyun Joon allegedly began hitting him for messing up choreography―until a passerby told him to stop. The accuser says Hyun Joon then left him behind and drove back to Seoul.
A second accuser, who says he was 17 at the time, alleges Hyun Joon walked up and struck him in the face with an arm in a cast. He fell to his knees, developed fluid in the joint and ultimately gave up his dream of becoming a dancer, he said.
Responding to the broadcast, Poppin' Hyun Joon told "Crime Chief": "How could I hit anyone with an injured arm? My elbow was severely fractured, and even now I can’t fully extend it." He added, "I do curse, but I’m small and not someone who resorts to violence."
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)