Taekwondo Dojang Director in '4-Year-Old Matt Abuse' Case, "It Was an Expression of Love" Absurd Apology Letter

Court: "No Value as a Letter of Apology"
Habitual Abuse of Over 20 Children in Addition to the Deceased Child

Last July, a 30-year-old Taekwondo gym owner in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, who caused the death of a 4-year-old child by placing him upside down between mats, reportedly defended his abusive actions in a letter of apology submitted to the court, claiming it was "an expression of love and a joke."

The Uijeongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi is transferring Taekwondo instructor Mr. A, who was arrested on charges of causing a 5-year-old student to fall into cardiac arrest and unconsciousness, to the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office. Yonhap News

On the 27th of last month, JTBC reported that Mr. B, the Taekwondo gym owner in Deokgye-dong, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, who rolled up the mats and placed boy A upside down between them, leaving him unattended for over 20 minutes leading to his death, was found to have abused 25 children including boy A. Additionally, it was revealed that Mr. B also placed boy C, a friend of boy A, inside the mats in June of last year.

According to the indictment, Mr. B gestured for boy C to come over, and when boy C refused, he lifted him and placed him inside the rolled-up mats. Fortunately, boy C was rescued without serious injuries but reportedly trembled in fear inside the mat hole for nearly two hours. Furthermore, JTBC reported that Mr. B struck the children's heads with kicking practice mitts and slapped their cheeks with his hands, abusing them 124 times in total. The prosecution has additionally indicted Mr. B on charges of further abuse against the deceased boy A and other children.

On the same day, JTBC also reported on nine letters of apology submitted by Mr. B to the court. The letters, totaling about 70 pages, were filled with complaints. He lamented his difficult childhood, saying, "I lived more fiercely than others because I could not pass poverty on to my future children. Even when buying something small, I agonized over it dozens of times and ultimately did not buy it," and apologized directly to his parents, saying, "Reflecting on my life in prison, I feel sorry to my parents who lived for me."

Regarding the deceased boy A, he claimed, "There were many times I felt like I was his father," and insisted that his ways of loving boy A, which should have been more careful and protective, sometimes became rougher, portraying his actions as expressions of affection and playfulness. About placing boy A upside down in the mats, he said, "I trusted another instructor and focused on answering the phone. I gestured urgently to the instructor to take him out, assuming he would naturally be removed," shifting responsibility. He briefly mentioned deleting the gym’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage immediately after the accident, saying, "I was not in my right mind and did something I should not have."

However, the court reprimanded Mr. B after reviewing his letters, stating, "The letters submitted by the defendant have no value as letters of apology."

Earlier, on December 19th last year, the prosecution requested a life sentence for Mr. Choi during a trial presided over by Chief Judge Oh Chang-seop of the Criminal Division 11 at Uijeongbu District Court. The prosecution explained, "Established legal principles state that physical abuse of children does not require intent or purpose, so the claim of lack of intent is unfounded. The defendant returned to the director’s office to delete the CCTV footage even in an urgent situation and later attempted to conceal the CCTV equipment itself. There is sufficient evidence to recognize implied intent to kill." The next hearing is scheduled for March 6th.

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