"‘If You Become a Teaching Assistant, You Can Bully Female Students’ Alleged Sexual Harassment in 항공대 Group Chat... 'Strict Action'"

"Blackmail with Nude Photos"... School Says "Will Conduct Thorough Investigation"

Photo by screenshot of the university students' online anonymous community 'Everytime'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Amid allegations that male students at Korea Aerospace University habitually sexually harassed female professors and female students in a KakaoTalk chatroom, the school announced on the 1st that it has launched a fact-finding investigation.

Korea Aerospace University issued a press release on the same day stating, "The university administration fully recognizes the seriousness of this matter and plans to conduct a thorough investigation as quickly as possible and handle the case strictly."

It added, "According to the university's 'Regulations on the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment,' the Sexual Violence Countermeasures Committee will conduct the investigation," and "Based on the investigation results, the Student Guidance Committee will make the final disciplinary decisions regarding the perpetrators."

Earlier, on the previous day, an allegation surfaced on the anonymous online university community 'Everytime' that male students at Korea Aerospace University sexually harassed female students and female professors on campus through a KakaoTalk group chat.

The author, presumed to be a current student at Korea Aerospace University, introduced themselves as "a victim sexually harassed in a group chatroom composed of male students from a certain department from February to August."

They pointed out, "The perpetrator students repeatedly sexually harassed and insulted unfamiliar students and professors on campus in the group chatroom."

They continued, "The verbal sexual harassment by the perpetrators was based on distorted sexual awareness, expressing violence toward the victims, showing signs of conspiring sexual and violent crimes, and was carried out habitually without any sense of conscience," adding, "Just because they attended the same classes as the perpetrators, encountered them on campus, or had their cameras on during mandatory remote classes, they were exposed to and sexually objectified by the perpetrators."

Furthermore, the author expressed concern, "The perpetrators' conversations included not only evaluations and mockery but also specific crime plans, so the possibility of actual crimes being carried out cannot be ruled out," and "All the perpetrator students are expected to enter graduate school at their respective departments and are also involved in undergraduate assistant activities, which could lead to many more victims on campus in the future."

They also emphasized, "The school must take this matter seriously and impose strong punishments to prevent such issues from happening again," and "Disciplinary actions against the perpetrators should be transparently disclosed to raise awareness of the widespread distorted sexual awareness and low sensitivity to sexual issues in society and to set a precedent for correcting these problems."

The author also revealed some of the conversations exchanged by the male students in the group chatroom. The chat included statements such as "If I become a teaching assistant, I can boss around female students," "The only way is to obtain nude photos and blackmail," "Record body cams and deepfake," and "I have to engage in prostitution."

It is known that there are a total of four perpetrators. However, it has not been confirmed how the problematic group chat content was leaked to the outside.

In response to the controversy, the student council decided to establish a 'Special Task Force for the On-Campus Group Chat Incident' and will accept additional reports through this task force.

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