Is bullying in Korea as severe as what you see in Kdrama?

Bullying has severe cases everywhere and barely a few of it makes it to news

I am sure its not great in Korea and thats why people have huge negative reactions to bullying rumors

Bullying can be extreme everywhere. People who aren't victims of bullying just tend not to notice or realise just how bad it really is.

At my school, it was the victims of bullying who were told to change schools for example. Never the perpetrators. The bullies merely received a stern talking to.

And we're talking actual physical violence here, including destruction of other student's property.

I always got the impression that people who were never bullied themselves have a tendency to believe that students who are, are bring it upon themselves by being different, and that that somehow means they deserve to be bullied.

I believe so. That's why the reaction is so strong against idols accused of bullying. During the Garam incident there was a video of an unrelated bullying incident going around and it was shocking.