'Virtually Neglected Seodang' ... Bizarre School Violence and Negligence in Managing Hadong Seodang

Seodang Side "Fights Occasionally Occur Due to Children's Special Circumstances"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Amid a series of bizarre school violence incidents at the Seodang in Cheonghak-dong, Hadong, Gyeongnam, it has been confirmed that the Seodang was effectively neglected due to management negligence, raising expectations of controversy.

In February last year, it was revealed belatedly that two male students at a Seodang in Cheonghak-dong repeatedly assaulted a same-sex student by forcing him to ingest bodily fluids and strip his clothes.

The Seodang was unaware of the situation until the victim student left the institution after the incident occurred, only recognizing it months later when an investigation began. Regarding the delayed understanding of the situation, the Seodang explained on the 30th, "We cannot know everything that happens among students."

On the other hand, the victim student stated, "Although violence frequently occurred centered around the perpetrators, the Seodang did not actively address the problem, so I did not report the abuse."

At the time of the near-torture violence, the perpetrators and the victim shared a dormitory room. They lived together for about five days, but due to other reasons, the roommates changed, somewhat separating them.

However, even after moving rooms, the perpetrators called the victim to their room and continued to assault him with punches. The victim claimed, "Even after moving rooms, they called me and hit me, so if the administrators had thoroughly checked the closed-circuit television (CCTV), additional harm could have been prevented," and added, "Because the Seodang regarded conflicts among students as routine, the abuse continued until I left."

He also testified that not only he but about ten middle and high school students were subjected to routine violence.

He said, "It was not only punches disguised as jokes but also assaults using tools like brooms, and they bullied two to three people daily," adding, "Some victims reported the violence to the administrators, but they only temporarily managed the situation without taking fundamental measures."

However, the Seodang stated that fights often occurred because the students they were protecting had strong violent tendencies or poor concentration, among other peculiarities.

The Seodang explained, "Due to the nature of the students, fights happened frequently, and when we became aware of the situation, we immediately separated the involved students and took measures," adding, "We never ignored the assault incidents despite knowing about them."

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