Gloria Sam, known as the 'English star instructor' in the academy district of Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. /Courtesy of Instagram

It was reported on the 23rd that Gloria, known as an 'English star instructor' in the Daechi-dong academy district of Gangnam, Seoul, filed a complaint with the police, accusing 11 members of an online community of posting malicious articles or comments about her.

The case is under investigation by the Bundang Police Station in Gyeonggi. Gloria is said to have submitted a complaint last month, using posts and comments from the parent community 'The School' in the Gangnam, Seocho, and Songpa areas as evidence. The School only accepts female parents aged 32 to 59, excluding instructors, academies, and corporations. In the complaint, Gloria reportedly claimed that the problematic posts and comments negatively assessed her teaching ability or attitude.

The police obtained a search and seizure warrant for The School and reportedly identified the identities of all the members accused in the complaint by tracking their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. A Bundang Police Station official said, 'None of the 11 accused reside in the jurisdiction, so the case is expected to be transferred to police stations such as Gangnam or Suseo in Seoul by the end of this month.'

In response, a member of The School posted an article stating, 'The instructor (Gloria) filed a complaint against me. I wrote that even good teachers are difficult for mid-tier students to handle in large academies and that some points, such as the absence of coursework for internal assessments, seem worrisome and irresponsible - this does not constitute insult or obstruction of business.'

Chosun Biz attempted to contact Gloria through the academy and social media (SNS) but received no response. The School administrator stated via a notice, 'Before the police search and seizure, we cannot know which articles are subject to the complaint. Even after a search and seizure, the intent of the complaint may not be clear.'