Actor Shim Eun-woo, cleared of school violence allegations, opens new yoga studio — with Lee Hyori's support

Actor Shim Eun-woo is preparing to open a new yoga studio.

Shim announced Tuesday through the studio's official SNS account that a soft opening would run from Aug. 17 through Aug. 31.

She had first shared the soft-opening news on Saturday, writing that she was "excited and busy with this new beginning" and would "prepare well so that those who visit can feel comfortable and receive good energy." In her latest post, she added that she would "wait for each and every person with an excited heart."

Now in her ninth year as a yoga instructor, Shim had previously run a studio in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul since 2022 before deciding to relocate and reopen in a new space.

Singer and yoga instructor Lee Hyori lent her support during the transition, tagging Shim's new studio account on the official SNS page of her own yoga studio alongside a photo of Shim practicing yoga, without any additional comment.

Shim responded in the comments with "Om Karananda♥ So refreshing," expressing her gratitude.

The two connected through yoga. Shim has visited Lee's studio on occasion to practice, and last October left a post reading, "The air here is just unfamiliar enough. A great place to focus on practice."

In 2020, Shim appeared on a variety program where she shared her life balancing acting and yoga instruction. She said she had auditioned three to four times a week after her debut but "failed countless times," adding that "doing yoga during difficult times led me to reflect on myself, and that experience became the reason I pursued an instructor certification."

Shim rose to prominence through the JTBC drama series "The World of the Married" but suspended her activities for about five years after school violence allegations were raised against her in 2021.

Shim filed a defamation complaint against the person who made the allegations, identified only as A, but police closed the case without referral to prosecutors in May 2024. Her agency subsequently said the decision "merely reflected that punishment was difficult due to insufficient evidence, and did not constitute recognition of the allegations as fact," adding that "evidence confirming she was not a perpetrator of school violence was verified during the investigation and was explicitly noted in the findings."

Shim said last March that she wanted "to finally be free of the false accusation of being a school violence perpetrator," saying she had "lost a great deal — mentally, physically and financially — and lost the precious opportunity to grow as an actor entirely."

She added that she would "knock on doors with the mindset of starting over from scratch as an actor, and healthily rebuild my daily life alongside the people I love," and expressed her "deepest and most sincere gratitude to those who cheered me on and gave me the courage to believe the truth would come to light."