"My eardrum ruptured from being beaten"... Former 'ulzzang' actress reveals she was a school bullying victim

[Financial News] Actress Kang Eun-bi (40) has revealed that she was the victim of horrific school bullying.
On the 13th, the tvN Joy entertainment program "Kim Chang-ok Show 4" released a teaser video featuring Kang Eun-bi on its official YouTube channel.
In the video, Kang Eun-bi candidly shared the story of how she married her husband Byun Jun-pil after 17 years of dating, as well as the painful experiences she went through during her school days.
Kang Eun-bi said, "I’m currently pregnant. I’ve been eating well, so I’ve gotten chubbier," adding, "I’m now 12 weeks along," as she gave an update on her life.
Once known as one of the "top five ulzzang (best-looking) stars in the country," she went on to say, "My husband, Byun Jun-pil, is also a former ulzzang," introducing him as "my classmate from the Seoul Institute of the Arts (SeoulArts)."
She confessed, "I’m not usually the cutesy type. Back in school, I wasn’t particularly adored by my friends. I was always alone and was severely ostracized and bullied."
She continued, "I was beaten so badly by classmates that my eardrum ruptured," adding, "So one of my eardrums is artificial."
Kang Eun-bi recalled, "After I debuted as an actress, my first variety show appearance showed a lot of cutesy behavior. Because of that, I ended up with a strong image as a fake, unlikable person," and added, "They even created love-line narratives with idols, and as a rookie I wanted to be on TV so I reacted a lot. But after that, whenever you searched my name, the only related search terms were swear words," revealing how deeply she was hurt.
She went on, "Back then, malicious comments weren’t regulated, so I had to see all of them. Because of that, whenever I tried to act even a little bit cute, I worried that my husband might also see me as unlikable," she confided.
She added tearfully, "I couldn’t bring myself to call my husband things like ‘honey’ or ‘darling’ because I felt that if I showed a vulnerable side, he might leave. I ended up speaking harshly, trying to appear strong," and said, "It really hurts that Jun-pil says he doesn’t understand what’s going on inside me."
Her husband, Byun Jun-pil, said in his own account on the show, "My wife hides her emotions. I have no idea what she’s really feeling inside," and confessed, "I wonder whether, if I just wait, she’ll eventually open up her heart, or if it’s that she simply doesn’t have enough trust in me."
moon@fnnews.com Moon Young-jin Reporter