Travel creator Kwak Tube has spoken candidly about the school bullying he endured from elementary school through high school, and explained why he chose not to name the four students who bullied him when he had the chance to do so on an awards stage. His account comes in an upcoming episode of the EBS interview series “BLANK,” set for release on November 13.
The episode pairs Kwak, whose real name is Kwak Jun-bin, with 19-year-old Lee Yu-won, who also left school after bullying. In the one-on-one format, the two fill in question cards and talk from the day they left school to how they became who they are now.
Kwak said he was bullied from the sixth grade of elementary school through high school, more than 20 years ago, and hid it even from his parents. After he dropped out, his bullies threatened to find him and kill him, and fearing they might come, he stayed home for about four months. Asked what first came to mind on the day he left school, he wrote one word: liberation.
Lee wrote that leaving school felt like “the golden time of my life that was taken away,” and said she suffered repeated violence, including having an energy drink poured over her head, with no solution to be found inside the school.
Both found their own way forward. Kwak registered at an academy for the high-school equivalency exam but quit after 15 days, when his classmates reminded him of his former bullies — yet still sat the exam and averaged 86 points, while Lee studied alone and passed with 96. Lee endured through Bach’s music; Kwak drew strength from wanting to go abroad and his interest in football. Asked what moved them to start again, Lee wrote “diary”; Kwak wrote “desire for revenge.”
That drive, Kwak said, explains why he did not name the four perpetrators when he received a broadcast rookie award. He had planned to name them in his acceptance speech, but on stage, the people he was grateful to came to mind first — and the wish to repay his bullies through success turned into gratitude.
The episode closes on a lighter note: Lee, who is interested in beauty and content creation, exchanged contact details with Kwak, who promised to appear on her channel if she starts one — and to let her do his makeup.
