'"Elderly Cigarette Shuttle" High School Student: "I Don’t Think I Can Attend School for a While... But I’m Not Dropping Out"'

Elderly Person in Their 60s Forced to Run Cigarette Errands
School Says, "Disciplinary Committee to Discuss... Considering Disciplinary Measures"

Four high school students in their teens forced a man in his 60s to buy cigarettes and repeatedly hit his head and shoulders with a chrysanthemum bouquet that was placed at the comfort women statue. /Video captured from an online community

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] Among the teenagers who forced a man in his 60s to run errands for cigarettes and repeatedly hit the man’s head and shoulders with a chrysanthemum bouquet from the comfort women statue, a boy identified as A expressed that "it will be difficult to attend school for the time being." However, it is known that he has not expressed any intention to withdraw from school.

Earlier, several media outlets reported that "A conveyed his intention to withdraw from school because it would be difficult to return," but according to DongA.com on the 6th, a representative from Gyeonggi Tourism High School stated, "It is not true that A expressed an intention to withdraw," and added, "It meant that it would be difficult to attend school for the time being under these circumstances."

He continued, "The school is currently discussing the level of disciplinary action for A," and added, "Please wait, the results will be announced soon."

Previously, four high school students including A, around 11:30 p.m. on the 25th of last month, on a street in Hongmundong, Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, hit a man in his 60s with flowers while demanding him to run errands for cigarettes. They also recorded the scene on video and shared it on social networking services (SNS), and the video spread widely across various SNS platforms, sparking public outrage.

In the video, one male student wearing a yellow raincoat mocked the seated man in his 60s by saying, "Where is your boyfriend?", "Did you break up?", "Are you going to buy cigarettes or not? Just say that." When the man asked, "How old are you? Aren’t you a student?" the student replied that he was 17 years old and continued with verbal abuse and assault.

As the controversy intensified, Gyeonggi Tourism High School posted a statement on its website on the 28th of last month, saying, "We deeply regret and feel a heavy responsibility for the disgraceful incident reported through the media," and "We promise to thoroughly investigate the circumstances and handle the matter strictly and decisively. We sincerely apologize on behalf of the offending students to the victim."

Meanwhile, the Yeoju Police Station has booked and is investigating the four teenagers involved in the incident, and it is reported that they have recently been questioned once in the presence of their guardians.

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