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South Korean parents hire thugs to stop school bullies

Bullying in South Korean schools is believed to be fuelled by the extreme pressure faced by students - Getty Images AsiaPac
Bullying in South Korean schools is believed to be fuelled by the extreme pressure faced by students - Getty Images AsiaPac

South Korean parents are hiring muscular, tattooed men to pose as fake “uncles” to protect their children from bullies at school.

According to local media reports, multiple companies are offering different packages, ranging from $450 to $1,790 a day, to desperate parents to ensure that their children are safe from aggressive classmates.

For the straightforward “uncle package”, a man in his 30s or 40s will reportedly walk the student to and from school and sternly warn bullies off.

The so-called “evidence package” offers an upgrade where the “uncle” will film the bullies in action and present the findings to the school. Under this deal, he will threaten to make the video public if there is no remedial action .

Meanwhile the “chaperone package” deploys the more high-profile tactic of visiting the bullies’ parents at their workplace and publicly shaming them.

The unusual new service, which exists in a legal grey zone and may be linked to underground gang culture appears to have grown out of fears that bullying in schools is rising unchecked and pushing some children towards suicide.

Suicide is the most common cause of death among young Koreans between the age of 15 to 24. According to the Chicago Policy Review, researchers believe that it is connected to the fiercely competitive academic environment and bullying behaviours at school.

South Korean parents pray for their children's success in an upcoming college entrance exam - Credit: STF/AP
South Korean parents pray for their children's success in an upcoming college entrance exam Credit: STF/AP

Noh Yoon-ho, a Seoul-based lawyer who specialises in school violence cases, said there had been an uptick in legal action over bullying since she began practicing in that field in 2012.

“I can’t really compare directly with other countries….but the problem here is that adults have the tendency to ignore it, they just think of it as kids fighting, and the bigger problems come after that…kids commit suicide,” she told The Telegraph.

However, some parents were resorting to the new anti-bullying service even before consulting lawyers, she said.

“The media has been reporting a lot on school violence, more parents are becoming anxious,” she said. “Previously, if you looked for these services on the internet you would never find them but now one or two are popping up, which means there must be a growing demand.”

The numbers resorting to “fake uncles” are impossible to pin down because of the stigma of hiring thugs and the fear of being sued.

Ms Noh said she was currently representing clients whose teenage sons had been targetted by intimidating men, believed to be “uncles”, after they had beaten up a classmate for telling a teacher they had cigarettes.

One of the alleged bullies, aged 15, had been studying at an evening maths class when the boy who was beaten phoned and told him to come immediately to an empty park.

“When he arrived, there were scary looking people, very big and showing tattoos all over their bodies and they made him apologise to the bullied kid…They told him ‘tell your friends that we’re going to see them tomorrow,’” claimed Ms Noh.

High school students cheer for their seniors who are sitting the highly competitive college entrance exams - Credit: Jung Yeon-je/AFP
High school students cheer for their seniors who are sitting the highly competitive college entrance exams Credit: Jung Yeon-je/AFP

“They made them kneel in front of the kid who had been bullied, and apologise to him first and then they took all the bullies to his parents’ house.”

Those parents are now reportedly attempting to sue the parents of the alleged bullies for a total of $330,000.

The extreme measure of hiring muscled men to threaten teenage children has emerged after years of public concern about school bullying.

According to a 2013 survey by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology, nearly one in 10 students at Korean primary and secondary schools had suffered from different forms of violence at the hands of their peers.

The issue first sparked public alarm in 2011 when Kwon Seung-min, a 13-year-old student, jumped to his death from an apartment block after leaving a note that described how he had been subjected to extreme bullying.

The tragedy raised awareness of the problem, but recent figures suggest it has still not been adequately addressed.

The number of students in Seoul who reported some form of bullying had increased by 25.4%, according to annual survey by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), released in November.

The study surveyed 646,669 students ranging from elementary schools to high school seniors, and showed that 11,425 experienced some form of bullying, compared with last year's 9,105, reported the Korea Times.

Intense competition between classmates and pressure to do well is often blamed for misbehaviour.

However, one mother whose son, 15, had recently been terrorised by his classmates told The Telegraph that she also laid the blame on inaction by schools who did not want their public image to suffer.

Park Ji-woo said she had been shocked by the passive response from her son’s school when he was assaulted on several occasions.

“The school didn’t really make an effort to investigate even though they could have got the names of the kids who were there,” she said.

“No teacher wants to get involved because they don’t want to lose their jobs or be involved in law suits,” Ms Park added.

“I wouldn’t consider using the [uncles] service because I’m religious and have very high moral standards but I totally understand why other parents are using it. They feel so cornered and so desperate.”