Actor Jo Jae-yun. [Newsis]
Actor Jo Jae-yun. [Newsis]

Actor Jo Jae-yun has opened up about being assaulted by a sunbae during his college years, saying the trauma never fully faded — especially after he came face to face with his attacker years later on a film set.

On Thursday, Jo and fellow actor Lee Cheol-min, both alumni of Seoul Institute of the Arts, appeared on actor Lee Jong-hyeok's YouTube channel "Seondobu-jang Lee Jong-hyeok," where they shared stories about hazing culture and their acting careers during their college days.

Lee Cheol-min recalled that actors Hwang Jeong-min, Jung Jae-young, Ryu Seung-ryong and Ahn Jae-wook, along with broadcaster Shin Dong-yeop, were all classmates in the class of 1990 at Seoul Institute of the Arts. "Our class went through an enormous amount of hardship," he said.

Lee Jong-hyeok also shared his memories of the period. "In our first year, the seniors from the class of 1989 would call out all the 1990 students, make them lie face down and beat them," he said. "It was a hazing culture carried out under the guise of enforcing discipline."

He added that while the expectation had been for the class of 1990 to carry on the practice against the class of 1991, his cohort collectively decided to end it. "We all agreed it was time to stop," he said. Lee Cheol-min noted that the culture had persisted even after students returned from mandatory military service.

Listening to the exchange, Jo opened up about his own experience. "Right after I enrolled, a senior from an upper class made the new students sit down and hit them on the head with a wooden plank," he said. "I still can't forget that." He then recalled the moment years later when he came face to face with the sunbae who had assaulted him — this time on a film set.

"During a break, he came up to me and said, 'How have you been? I knew you'd make it,'" Jo said. "But the pain hadn't subsided at all." He added that he had quietly asked the production company's head whether the person could be removed from the project. "The person who hits doesn't remember, but the person who was hit never forgets," he said.

The two ultimately completed the production together, but Jo said the experience remained painful throughout. "Because I remembered being hit by him, I could never get close to him, even by the time filming wrapped," he said.


betterj@heraldcorp.com