Student apologizes for impersonating YouTuber

A high school student in Yangcheon-gu, southwestern Seoul, came under fire and apologized Tuesday for dressing up as YouTuber Yang Ye-won in a yearbook photo shoot Monday.

In the shared post, the student can be seen dressed up as a woman while holding a YouTube channel sign reading “national fraud.”

Shortly after the student shared the photo via social media, the post went viral, as the uploaded time coincided with Uijeongbu High School’s well-known tradition of creative parodies for the yearbook photo shoots, according to education authorities. 

The purported attempt at humor stirred up a controversy online, with some online commenters slamming the student for his insensitivity.

Yang shared her personal story of sexual abuse via her video channel in May, describing a time when she modeled for an online retailer in 2015.

In the video, she accused the photographer of locking her in the studio before forcing her to wear crotchless lingerie and pose sexually for pictures, which had been leaked online. She also alleged that some 20 photographers had sexually harassed and assaulted her during a photo session, with some touching her vagina. 

Yang later came under fire when the photographer revealed months of text messages showing her asking for work. She had initially claimed to have been extorted. 

But her supporters point out that this does not mean the allegations of sexual abuse are untrue.

In a written statement, the student apologized for having been “too excited for the photo shoot and careless” in dressing up like Yang. He also said he had changed back into the school uniform for the actual photo shoot.

School authorities said they planned to hold a disciplinary hearing on the student’s behavior and promised to prevent such an incident from happening again.

By Catherine Chung (cec82@heraldcorp.com)