Four High School Students Expelled for Group Assault Incident in Cheongyang, South Chungcheong Province

Four high school students in Cheongyang, South Chungcheong Province, who have been involved in repeatedly assaulting a classmate and extorting millions of won over several years, have been expelled.

According to a report from Yonhap News on the 30th, the joint school violence countermeasure committee investigating school violence incidents in the Cheongyang area recently issued the highest level of disciplinary action against the offending students.

The committee held a school violence deliberation meeting on the 20th and communicated the decision regarding the actions taken to the victim, referred to as Student A, in writing on the 27th.

The committee decided to prohibit contact between the perpetrators and Student A to ensure his protection, as well as to implement measures against threats and acts of retaliation.

In explaining the background of this decision, the committee stated, "The perpetrators committed numerous forms of school violence, including prolonged physical, verbal, and sexual abuse, extortion, and coercion, which are all heinous crimes." They also noted, "The victim has endured shameful and humiliating experiences for over three years since middle school, and it is considered that the resulting mental harm is severe."

The Reality of Brutal School Violence Over Three Years

The perpetrators are currently under police investigation for allegedly extorting a total of 6 million won through 165 incidents against Student A from October 2022, when they were in the second year of middle school, until April of this year.

They frequently referred to Student A as "slave," "delivery boy," and "ATM," continuously tormenting him.

Particularly shocking is the revelation that the students bound Student A's wrists and body with duct tape at a villa in Cheongyang County, threatened him with a weapon, forcibly cut his hair with an electric clipper, and recorded parts of his body illegally to intimidate him.

Recently, the police applied for arrest warrants for the four offending students, but the court denied the request, stating, "Considering they are first-time offenders, are young, and pose no flight risk."

Following this, the police conducted residential searches and interviews, resulting in the additional investigation into four other classmates involved in the crimes.

All eight individuals had attended the same school as Student A until middle school, and even after some were transferred to different high schools, they continued to bully him.

In a phone interview with Yonhap News, Student A's father expressed his sentiments, stating, "The actions of the students are something no real human being would do. My son is still visiting the hospital with wounds that cannot be healed, and we have not received a single apology from the perpetrators."

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