'Repeated Child Abuse' at a Famous Kindergarten Franchise in Gyeonggi... Director and Two Teachers Booked

On the 8th, MBC Newsdesk reported that nearly 10 cases of suspected abuse were confirmed in about ten days of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from late October to early November at a kindergarten in Dongtan, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by MBC Newsdesk.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] It has been revealed that two teachers at a kindergarten operated by a major education-related corporation continuously abused children.

On the 8th, MBC Newsdesk reported that nearly 10 cases of abuse were confirmed in ten days' worth of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from late October to early November at a kindergarten in Dongtan, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

According to the report, the teachers repeatedly engaged in various forms of violent behavior toward children who were only three years old.

The police secured the related CCTV footage and launched an investigation.

On the 6th of last month, the CCTV shows a teacher wiping a child's face with a wet tissue during lunchtime when all the children were gathered.

The child's head twisted backward with a distorted expression as the teacher pinched and pushed roughly.

Another teacher approached and forcefully shoved food into another child's mouth, causing the child to fall backward.

Scenes were also captured of forcibly laying a child down while changing clothes and making a child stand for a long time in just underwear.

The abuse was not a one-time occurrence, and strange words and behaviors exhibited by the children at home became clues.

In a video recorded by a parent, one victim child said, "The teacher scolded me for not eating, hit me, and hit me harder, so it hurt."

Another victim child said, "The teacher is scary, scared me and hit me a lot on the ears."

The accused teachers are a homeroom teacher in their 40s and an assistant teacher in their 30s, and the victims are six children in the three-year-old class.

Photo by MBC Newsdesk broadcast screen capture.

Parent A of a victim child who reviewed the CCTV said, "It was so shocking," and appealed, "It was exactly like the content and scenes seen on TV news (in the CCTV footage)."

A explained, "The teacher grabbed the child's arm and suddenly threw them to the floor. The child flew and hit their head hard on the floor," and added, "Children who wet themselves were just made to stand. They were left standing for 20 to 30 minutes," describing the footage they saw.

Parent B of a victim child said, "(The child) became violent, threw things, and became aggressive. They kept having nightmares and said, 'Mom, help me, I'm scared,' and said, 'The teacher kicked me with their foot.'"

The kindergarten, which also offers classes in English, charges over one million won per month in tuition. Parent A appealed, "Mothers see so many reports of child abuse in the media that they fear it, but they thought that if they paid this much money, at least the children wouldn't be abused."

The company operating the kindergarten admitted that inappropriate behavior occurred but stated that, contrary to parents' claims, only two children were victims.

Parents suspect that abuse has been ongoing since last summer, but only about three weeks' worth of CCTV footage remains.

Parents have filed complaints against three people, including the director and a teacher who already resigned, and the police are investigating them on charges of violating the Child Welfare Act.

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