"Busan Private High School's Dress Code Controversy: Checking Underwear While Enforcing Skirt Length"

Busan Metropolitan Office of Education. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] A controversy has arisen at a high school in Busan where some teachers allegedly conducted inappropriate dress inspections targeting female students. The affected female students complained that they felt significant humiliation, such as being forced to show their undershorts in front of others under the pretext of uniform checks.

Student A from the high school recounted the situation in an interview with CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" on the 21st, saying, "They told us (female students) to sit on chairs, and it seemed like the teachers and other students all looked to see if the undershorts were visible."

Earlier, on the 25th of last month, according to the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education and the Busan branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), on the 8th of the same month, student life guidance teachers at high school B in Busan held a dress code guidance meeting.

During this process, it is reported that the teachers made two second-year female students wearing skirts sit on chairs and had other female students check whether their underwear was visible.

Two days later, on the 10th, a female teacher reportedly called out a female student in front of other students to measure the length of her skirt, which caused discomfort among some students.

A said, "Even if someone you know looks under your skirt, it is humiliating and very upsetting, but being told to sit down in front of many students and having them all see under my skirt made me feel very bad," adding, "There were friends whose underwear was visible because they were not wearing undershorts."

She continued, "This was the first time attending such a meeting, and I went because it was said to be a place to find consensus on dress code issues like skirts and makeup, but it was not that kind of place; it was a coercive environment," expressing, "I was so embarrassed that I couldn't say much at the time."

A also stated, "The teachers often said things like, 'Because you are not behaving like proper students, male students inevitably have to look (at female students' bodies), and that's natural. If you don't want to experience such things, you should lengthen your skirts or pay attention to your conduct,'" adding, "The male students used many vulgar words toward female students, calling them derogatory names like 'geolX'."

She added, "Most teachers either do not bring up the meeting or create an atmosphere where we are told not to talk about it," and "Many friends are afraid of suffering repercussions because we attend the school, while some say 'It was actually a good thing'."

Meanwhile, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education conducted a full investigation of the affected students in cooperation with a child protection agency and, on the 13th, delivered a recommendation from the Human Rights Commission to the high school to revise the school regulations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.