'The Glory’ director accused of bullying when he was studying in the Philippines
The Glory director Ahn Gil-ho has been accused of bullying in time for the highly anticipated release of Part 2 of the show about school violence and revenge in South Korea.
On March 10, Korean media reported how claims of school violence allegedly committed by the director had quickly spread in an online community.
The alleged victim simply referred to as "A" claimed: "The director of The Glory was a perpetrator of school violence in the past. I don't usually watch Korean dramas, so I didn't know that Ahn Gil-ho was working as a drama director. As The Glory became a hot topic this time, alumni from a Filipino school shared information about The Glory in a group chat room. However, it is absurd and unforgivable that a perpetrator of school violence directs a program such as The Glory that raises awareness about school violence."
The victim claimed that around 27 years ago in 1996, Gil-ho committed school violence as a third-year high school student at a school in the Philippines while A was in their second year.
The incident reportedly started when Gil-ho dated middle school girl "B," whom A and their classmates would tease. Upon finding out, Gil-ho reportedly summoned A and their classmates to threaten and assault them for nearly two hours.
“I don’t know exactly how many people there were, because I was so nervous and afraid, but there were about 10 students including Ahn Gil-ho," A continued.
"From then on, they started to beat us, and in the process of interrogating us about who made fun of Gil-ho's girlfriend, we didn't answer, so they proceed to beat and threaten us, 'bring a knife, I'm going to stab them,'" A added.
A, through Korean media, said that if the director denies the claims, he and his friends are willing to testify.
Gil-ho confirmed studying in the Philippines for about a year, but slammed the bullying allegations and noted he has no memory of hitting anyone.
The show's production company Studio Dragon declined to comment on the matter as they are still verifying this information.
The Glory revolves around a woman who suffered childhood violence and now dedicates her life to executing a series of vengeful acts against her bullies and their accomplices. The second part of the show is now streaming on Netflix.