[Provided by Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]
[Provided by Herald POP (now Herald Muse)]

A former classmate has come forward to confirm that actor Kim Bo-sung really did fight 13 opponents at once during his school days.

On Monday, Kim's YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "Kim Bo-sung's loyalty test: 'Will they really come if I call?' — I reached out to people out of the blue."

In the video, Kim conducted what he called a "loyalty test," making unannounced phone calls to acquaintances ranging from entertainment industry colleagues to close childhood friends, telling each only that he missed them to see who would actually show up.

Kim called a series of longtime acquaintances and junior colleagues one by one. Yun Hyeong-bin, who was filming a YouTube video in Songdo, Incheon, at the time, said he would come over even at around 1 a.m. Kim talked him out of it, citing an early morning shoot the next day, but expressed his gratitude.

As several acquaintances responded to Kim's sudden summons, an old friend also made an appearance. Kim introduced him as a middle and high school friend with whom he used to catch frogs as a child, and the two began swapping stories from their school days.

The conversation turned to one of the most famous anecdotes associated with Kim — the "13-vs-1 fight." His friend said Kim "was good at fighting. One-on-one, he was good."

When the production crew asked whether the 13-vs-1 story was true, the classmate said, "Yes. I was running after them, but by the time I got there it was already over." Kim grew animated, saying, "Here is the friend who witnessed and can testify to the 13-vs-1 fight."

The classmate added, "There was me and one other friend — we were heading up together, but the whole thing was already finished by the time we arrived."

Kim quipped, "This cannot be edited out. People have doubted it a lot."

Kim had previously appeared on the TV program "TV Is Loaded with Love," among others, where he revealed that he sustained a mild visual impairment after fighting 13 thugs on his own.

Meanwhile, Kim has long been beloved by the public for his persona centered on "loyalty," and continues to engage in community service through his loyalty campaign. He recently announced that he had legally changed his name to "Heo Seok Kim Bo-sung," combining his birth name, Heo Seok, with his stage name.


min3654@heraldcorp.com