Broadcaster Lee Hye-seong reveals she was a school violence victim

Lee Hye-seong, a 33-year-old former announcer turned broadcaster, has opened up about her experience as a victim of school violence.

According to Star Today, a video titled "You Can't Be Loved by Everyone — The Courage to Be Disliked" was posted Friday on Lee's YouTube channel "Lee Hye-seong's 1% Book Club."

In the video, Lee introduced the bestselling book "The Courage to Be Disliked" and offered advice to those hurt by bullying within a group. Lee said a community can sometimes become a place that wounds you, and that it is important to remember the group you belong to is not the whole world.

While discussing school violence in particular, Lee confessed to having experienced it herself. "If you think school is the only place you belong, being subjected to school violence, bullying or failing to make friends will feel unbearably painful," she said. "I've been through it too."

Lee then said that many different communities exist beyond the walls of school. "If you realize that a much larger community will open up before you, just knowing that would give you so much strength," she said.

Lee added that she had not had that perspective as a child. "When I was in middle school, I never thought about it that way. There were no adults telling me these things, and I hadn't read books like this," she said. "That's why the situation felt so painful and hard to bear."

She closed with a message of encouragement. "You are such a valuable person that you don't need to stay in a worthless group like that," she said. "You deserve to find a group that suits you better and be happy there. Please don't ever make a terrible choice."

Lee joined KBS in 2016 as a 43rd-class staff announcer and left in 2020 to work as a freelance broadcaster.