"Bring the Money" - Middle School Sophomore in Jinju Extorts and Threatens Junior; Education Office Responds

An incident of bullying, in which upper-grade students threatened and extorted money from their juniors, occurred at a middle school in Jinju, Gyeongnam, prompting the education authorities to take action.

According to the Gyeongnam Office of Education and others on the 24th, four first-year students at A Middle School in Jinju were repeatedly subjected to school violence by four second-year students from March until recently.

Three second-year students, including student B, demanded via messenger that first-year students, including student C, "Send 5,000 won each."

It was found that many of the victims sent money after being threatened with messages such as, "If you don't have it, get it from someone around you. If you don't send it, we'll beat you up."

It was also reported that the perpetrators tried to pull down one student's pants, forced some students to wear name tag stickers on certain body parts, and demanded proof photos.

They verbally abused students who said they had no money and persistently questioned whether they had any. When the school violence case was reported, they also tried to identify the person who made the report.

Gyeongnam Office of Education. Photo by Lee Seryeong

The incident came to light on the 21st when the homeroom teacher of one of the victims became aware of the situation.

The school has prohibited the perpetrators from contacting the victims and has taken measures to separate them so their paths do not cross.

The provincial office of education has classified this as a case involving both school violence and sexual misconduct, and has begun to respond accordingly.

They plan to provide psychological counseling and treatment for the victims, and to distribute 'iBom devices' to students who want them, which allow them to send immediate alerts in dangerous situations.

In addition, to identify the specific circumstances, scale, and any additional victims, officials visited the school and conducted a full school-wide survey on school violence.

The provincial office of education expects that the number of victims may increase depending on the results of the survey and plans to focus on preventing secondary harm while preparing countermeasures.

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