School Violence Records Reflected in Regular Admissions... Party and Government "Considering Preservation Until Employment"

May 5 'School Violence Countermeasure Party-Government Council' Held
Measures to Prioritize Protection of Victimized Students Established

The government and the ruling party have decided to extend the retention period for records of serious school violence perpetrators in school life records. Additionally, school violence records currently reflected in early admission processes will also be applied to regular university entrance exams.

On the morning of the 5th, the ruling party and government held a meeting at the National Assembly main building to discuss the "Comprehensive Measures to Eradicate School Violence" and announced the results of the discussions. Park Dae-chul, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, stated in a briefing immediately after the meeting, "To strictly respond to school violence, the ruling party and government agreed on the need to extend the retention period of serious school violence perpetrator records in school life records and to expand the reflection of these records from early admissions to regular admissions in university entrance exams to strengthen awareness of school violence." The current maximum retention period for school violence records in school life records is two years. Chair Park explained, "Strengthening the retention period of school violence records in student records means making the responsibility heavier by having the results of school violence affect university admissions."

Park Dae-chul, Chairman of the Policy Committee of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party-government consultation meeting on comprehensive measures to eradicate school violence held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 5th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

They are also considering using school violence records for employment purposes. Chair Park said, "According to a public survey, many opinions suggested that school violence records from school days should influence employment to increase awareness of school violence," adding, "Therefore, there was an opinion that extending the retention period until employment should be considered in the mid to long term."

To prioritize protecting victimized students, they plan to supplement institutional shortcomings and prepare measures to broadly support victims through systems such as one-on-one dedicated support. Chair Park conveyed, "We agreed on the urgent need to establish effective measures to immediately separate perpetrators from victims from the early stages so that victims do not feel anxious."

The ruling party and government also agreed on the need to expand and protect teachers' authority to promote fundamental changes through educational efforts at schools, and to activate character, physical education, and arts education. They left discussions open on strengthening educational programs for school violence prevention and ensuring that no unjust perpetrators remain.

The People Power Party plans to promptly advance legislation related to school violence measures. Chair Park stated, "The number of school violence cases was around 20,000 from 2013 to 2016, but surged during the Moon Jae-in administration with 31,240 cases in 2017, 32,632 in 2018, and 31,130 in 2019," and added, "We ask the Democratic Party of Korea to actively cooperate in passing related legislation as a way to apologize and reflect on these mistakes."

The ruling party and government plan to hold a School Violence Countermeasures Committee meeting chaired by the Prime Minister to announce the final plan based on the discussions from this meeting. Attendees included Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Jang Sang-yoon, Vice Minister of Education, and Oh Seok-hwan, Education Secretary of the Presidential Office.

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