"That Was a Bit Much, But I Was Young and Immature, Right?" Apology from a School Violence Perpetrator

Pyoh Ye-rim Releases Recorded Call with Perpetrator
"What I Did When I Was Young... I Don't Remember Clearly," She Consistently Says

Pyo Yerim (28), who has suffered from school violence for 12 years, recently released a recorded phone call from the perpetrator. Pyo claimed that the perpetrator did not offer a sincere apology for the incident and consistently maintained a shameless attitude.

On the 18th, Pyo uploaded a video titled "Received a call from the perpetrator" on her YouTube channel.

[Photo by MBC Broadcast Screen Capture]

In the video, she said, "The call from the perpetrator came on the evening of March 28," and added, "Since the majority of the class were my perpetrators, there are others besides the 17 named in the statement. The person who called this time is not listed in the statement."

After receiving a DM saying "Sorry" from the individual, Pyo said, "What you did to me cannot be undone by a four-letter DM saying sorry, so call me," and left her phone number.

In the recorded phone call released by Pyo, Mr. A said, "Honestly, I don't remember everything I did to you, but I remember some of the worse things. I'm sorry."

When Pyo responded, "You don't remember everything? Saying sorry is really easy," the perpetrator replied, "Of course I don't remember everything. Do you think apologizing is easy for me? It's hard for me too."

Photo by MBC Broadcast Screen Capture

In response, Pyo asked in a trembling voice, "I remember everything in detail, from after-school classes to the third year of middle school. Are you even human?"

Mr. A consistently avoided by saying "I don't remember," then asked back, "I was young back then too. Wasn't it a time when I was immature? Since it was something done when I was immature, don't I also say sorry?"

Then Pyo exploded, saying, "Does being immature make it okay? Does being immature mean you can hit my head, slap me, and kick me? I was young too. When you're young, don't you know it hurts when you're hit?"

Mr. A responded, "I never kicked you. I was immature back then, so don't I apologize? Did I do that after I grew up?"

When Pyo finally asked, "Why did you hit me back then?" Mr. A raised his voice, saying, "I don't know either. I don't know why I did that back then."

After the recording ended, Pyo expressed her frustration, saying, "What do you think? Do you think this is what an apology from a perpetrator to a victim looks like? No one offered a sincere apology."

She continued, "The only thing I can do is petition. The world has to change for those kids to sincerely say sorry to me," and appealed, "Please don't just brush this off as a nuisance. Take just three minutes to share your opinion."

Earlier, on the 2nd of last month, Pyo appeared on MBC's 'True Story Exploration' and confessed, "I have been a victim of school violence for 12 years, from elementary school through high school." In the broadcast, she tried to contact the perpetrators directly via KakaoTalk messenger, but received responses such as, "Are you high because you watched the recent drama (The Glory)? Are you Pyo Hyegyo?" and "Don't invade other people's lives."