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| Kwak Joon-bin talks about his experiences being bullied on "You Quiz On The Block." Screencaptured from tvN |
By Kim Se-jeong
As the hit Netflix series "The Glory" brings the issue of school bullying back into the spotlight, a famous travel YouTuber recently came forward to share his experiences of being bullied when he was in school.
Kwak Joon-bin, 30, is a travel YouTuber with more than 1.31 million subscribers who goes by the name KwakTube. He shared his experiences with bullying on the popular tvN talk show "You Quiz On The Block."
Kwak said that he was always skinny as a child and that his peers never respected him. "We were in the same classroom but I always felt inferior."
He was forced to buy snacks for his peers with his own money and often made to give up his physical education kit so that he could not take part in physical activities. "Once the bullies stabbed me in my back with a math drawing compass and laughed a lot at my suffering. I still remember their laughing faces."
His parents never knew what their son was going through until he dropped out of school in his high school freshman year and ran away from home. His parents came from their home in Busan to bring him home from Geoje Island, about 50 kilometers away. He told his parents what had happened and that he didn't want to go back to school.
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| A scene from Netflix series "The Glory." /Courtesy of Netflix |
"It took me many years to open up about my experience. In Korea, being bullied means you're weak and you don't feel comfortable sharing such stories. Also, people look at you as if you ― rather than the offenders ― are the problem."
Despite his experiences, he didn't give up on dreaming about his future. He managed to get a high school diploma and got into university, majoring in Russian language and trade, which opened up many opportunities to become a professional travel YouTuber. You can also see him talking about his bullying experience on his YouTube channel.
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