Teenagers Who Made Grandmother Run Errands for Cigarettes... Testimony Emerges of Additional Victims

Teen Students Bully Other Elderly People, Asking Them to Buy Cigarettes Too

A teenage boy hit the head of a man in his 60s wearing a yellow raincoat with a flower and demanded him to run an errand for cigarettes. Photo by Internet Community Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Teenage high school students who forced a man in his 60s to run errands for cigarettes and hit his head and shoulders with chrysanthemums for memorial purposes have sparked public outrage, with claims emerging that this is not their first offense.

On the night of the 25th of last month, around 11:30 PM, four teenage high school students including A (17) assaulted a man in his 60s, Mr. B, on a street in Hongmun-dong, Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, hitting him with flowers while demanding he run errands for cigarettes. When Mr. B did not comply with A’s demands, A verbally abused him and repeatedly struck his head and shoulders with flowers from a comfort women memorial statue nearby, mocking him.

They recorded the scene of their violence against Mr. B and posted the video on social media (SNS). The video shows A demanding "Buy me cigarettes" from Mr. B, who was wearing a yellow raincoat, and lightly hitting him with flowers.

An elderly man in his 60s runs away to avoid teenage boys forcing him to buy cigarettes, while one teenage boy kicks the grandmother's cart with his foot. Photo by Online Community Capture

According to reports, it has been revealed that Mr. B was not the first to suffer violence and harassment from these students.

A friend of the victim told KBS in an interview, "When I asked, 'Since when have you been running errands for cigarettes? Did the students keep asking you to buy them?' he said he had done it several times," adding, "So I strongly advised my aunt never to do it again."

There was also testimony that another elderly woman suffered similar abuse. A nearby shopkeeper close to where the incident occurred told MBC, "The grandmother who sold snacks said, 'I was also targeted,'" and added, "She said she refused several times, but they kept following her."

Meanwhile, netizens who saw the video demanded strict punishment and disclosure of the identities of the offending students. On the 28th, a petition titled "Demanding punishment and identity disclosure for teenagers who forced a man in his 60s to run errands for cigarettes and hit his head" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board.

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