Police are checking the facts after a report that middle school students falling under the juvenile law exemption assaulted a classmate. The possibility that they filmed the assault on a mobile phone and posted it on social networking services (SNS) is under investigation.
Gwangju Bukbu Police Station said on Feb. 5 that it booked five teenagers, including middle school student A, on charges of assault and is investigating. According to police, they are accused of beating classmate B twice, on Dec. 27 last year and Jan. 1 this year, at a playground and an underground parking lot in Buk-gu, Gwangju.
In the course of the police investigation, it was found that the perpetrators directly recorded the assault and later posted the video on SNS. Police said they have known B since elementary school and assaulted the student after a request to lend money was refused.
Because the suspects are between ages 10 and 13 and fall under the juvenile law exemption, which exempts them from criminal liability, police plan to refer the case to the juvenile division of the family court as soon as the investigation is completed.