Middle school students who habitually assaulted and bullied a peer have been sent to the juvenile court.
Cheongju Cheongwon Police Station said on Dec. 9 that it referred four people, including A (13), to the juvenile division of the Cheongju District Court on charges including assault and coercion.
A and others are accused of assaulting classmates B and C at an unmanned store in Cheongju at about 11:30 a.m. on Jul. 31.
They are also accused of threatening B and C by saying, "You two fight. If you don't fight properly, we will assault you as a group," forcing them to scuffle and broadcasting the scene on social media (SNS).
They also allegedly bullied B and C for about 10 months since Nov. last year by forcing them to pay for meals the group had eaten or by knocking them down and pressing them onto heated stones, it was found.
The case was previously mentioned during the National Assembly Education Committee's audit of the North Chungcheong Office of Education in Oct. The Cheongju Office of Education School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee recognized school violence for only one person among three including A.
At the time, the other two were concluded to be "not school violence," prompting backlash from the victim's side. The reasons for the committee's "not school violence" decision regarding the two students were not disclosed.
The Cheongju Office of Education said of the police investigation results, "Before the school violence committee convened, an investigation into the students was already underway due to a complaint filed by the victim's side."
Meanwhile, when a juvenile under the age of criminal responsibility is sent to the court's juvenile division, they are subject to protective dispositions No. 1 to 10, including protective custody consignment, community service order, probation, and commitment to a juvenile reformatory.