School dropouts become ’gangsters’ targeting students

By Kim Tae-jong

Police said Wednesday they had arrested a high school dropout for assaulting students in Seoul and extorting money from them over the past three years.

The 18-year-old had operated a gang along with 10 other dropouts and systematically extorted money and stole expensive goods from about 700 middle and high school students since 2009, according to the Seocho Police Station.

Like crime rings, “district leaders” were in charge of three to four districts in Seoul, with each leader having about 50 gang members. They had to offer a regular “tribute” to Kim, police said.

“According to a seized accounting book, the gang extorted money and stole goods worth tens of millions of won from hundreds of students in 2010 alone,” a police officer said. “But it could be up to hundreds of millions of won, if including what they extorted and stole in 2009 and 2011.”

Kim ordered his gang members to take anything valuable from students including cash, iPads and smartphones. He beat them up when they failed to complete their mission. He also sold the items through secondhand markets, the officer said.

“Most victims did not report the thefts to police or their parents for fear of revenge attacks on them. Many also chose to work with the gang,” he said.

Kim began extorting from students in his neighborhood when he was a middle school student to offer a tribute to his senior.