Kang Hyung-wook and His Wife Cleared of Workplace Bullying Allegations Last Year
No Charges for Accessing Company Messenger
"I Am Not Wise Yet... I Will Strive to Improve"
Dog trainer Kang Hyung-wook, who was embroiled in a workplace bullying controversy last year, revealed that he lost 13 kg in weight and suffered from stress-induced hair loss. On the 22nd, Kang confessed in a video posted on his YouTube channel, "Between May and July last year, I lost 13 kg in just half a month," adding, "I don’t know if it was because I was very stressed at the time, but I lost a serious amount of hair. Hair was falling out so much that when I woke up, there was a pile of hair that I had to clean up with a vacuum cleaner."
Kang said, "At first, I was too embarrassed to go to a hair loss clinic alone, so I just stood outside the clinic door without going in and left. On my third visit, I held my wife’s hand and went. I was very embarrassed," adding, "When I first came to the clinic, it was really serious. I even applied powdered hair fibers. So when I bent down to command the dogs to 'lie down,' I was worried that my crown would be visible. It was very sparse."
In the video, the attending doctor showed photos of Kang from six months ago when his hair loss was severe. The doctor checked Kang’s current hair condition and said, "After treatment, the hair itself has grown much thicker."
After completing treatment, Kang said, "I am still young and have many unwise parts. Also, when I talk with people who have lost their dogs, I realize a lot that there is no set way to raise a dog, and I learn different wisdom from these people," emphasizing, "I will try to become a wiser trainer. If I was a trainer who only had knowledge until now, I plan to strive to become a wise trainer from now on."
The police last month cleared Kang and his wife of charges related to unauthorized access to the company messenger. The police explained, "After investigating related parties and analyzing evidence, and reviewing the fact that the administrator side had legitimate access rights according to the terms of use, it was difficult to find any charges, so a non-prosecution decision was made."
In May last year, former employees of Bodum Company, operated by Kang, filed a complaint with the police, accusing Kang and his wife of workplace bullying, including unauthorized access to the company messenger. Kang and his wife admitted to accessing the company messenger. Kang’s spouse, Susan Elder, explained, "When we switched the company messenger to a paid version, administrator functions were added. I didn’t want to look because it felt like snooping in someone’s diary, but I saw that male employees, the CEO, and my son were being insulted with hateful expressions used in certain online communities. I thought, ‘This needs to be addressed,’ so I posted a company-wide notice."
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