Lee Dong-gwan's Son Bullying Allegation Involved Person A: "I'm Not a Victim... Still in Contact"

"Stressed Over an Incident from 10 Years Ago Is Difficult"
Not One-Sided Bullying but Mutual Conflict... Reconciled at the Time

A, who was identified as a victim of school violence by the son of Lee Dong-gwan, the President's Office Special Advisor for External Cooperation, appealed to the media, saying he is not a victim of school violence and asking for help so that he would not be stigmatized as a victim of school violence from an incident about 10 years ago.

In a statement sent to Yonhap News on the 11th, A said, "It is extremely stressful to be regarded and highlighted as a victim of school violence. So please, I ask you not to classify me as a 'victim of school violence' anymore." He was identified by the political circles and media as a person who suffered school violence from the son of Special Advisor Lee Dong-gwan in connection with an incident that occurred at Hanago in 2011.

A recounted the situation at the time, saying, "I had already reconciled with the friend called the perpetrator (Special Advisor Lee Dong-gwan's son, hereinafter B) during the first semester of the first grade, and we were getting along well afterward." He continued, "However, I heard that some teachers who saw the 'statements' about the damage written by some students including myself strongly requested punishment for B. In response, I, along with other students who wrote the statements, went to the teachers and pleaded, 'We do not want B to transfer. Please stop it,' but some teachers said, 'Why do you try to hide it even after such an incident happened?' and said the decision could not be changed, so eventually B was transferred."

Lee Dong-kwan, Special Advisor for External Cooperation at the Presidential Office
Photo by Yonhap News

A said that the 'statement' he wrote was not intended to request that B be referred to the school violence committee, but that a particular teacher asked him to write down all the damage cases he had experienced or knew for initial situation assessment, and he wrote it with a somewhat relaxed mind, thinking it would not be officially used. He also said, "All the damage statements were about incidents that happened in early first grade, and the statements were written around April to May of the second grade, so there is a time gap that may have caused confusion in memory or mixing with other friends' damage cases." He added, "Although there were cases of mutual disputes rather than one-sided bullying, I did not state the 'harm' I caused in response to that damage."

A said, "I still occasionally keep in touch with B and even met him in April this year, continuing our interaction," and added, "If I were truly a victim, I wonder if I could have pleaded to stop the transfer at that time or if I could still meet now." He went on to say, "Recently, institutional reforms to protect victims of school violence and severely punish perpetrators have been discussed, but this assumes a 'typical' school violence case where the victim wants strong punishment for the perpetrator, and this case is somewhat different."

He emphasized again, "Unlike others who truly suffered from school violence, I have never been mentally distressed to the point of seeking counseling or going to the hospital for trauma," and "I had already reconciled about a year before writing the document called the statement, and I have been getting along well until now." A later sent another text message to Yonhap News, saying, "I no longer want to receive any media contact related to this incident," and "I hope this matter will be concluded."

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