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| Seen is one of the traditional-style schools in Cheonghakdong Village, located in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, which has been embroiled in controversy over school violence cases. Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
The police, education office and county office of Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province, launched a joint investigation, Friday, into a series of school violence cases involving traditional-style schools in Cheonghakdong Village there.
The provincial police agency said the investigation is aimed at discovering whether there have been additional cases and taking legal or administrative actions against the traditional school operators if they are found to be responsible for the incidents.
"We are questioning students living in dormitories of the schools as well as their classmates in regular schools," a police official said.
Cheonghakdong Village is a tranquil mountainous town that maintains a traditional lifestyle. Some 100 children there attend nearby Mukgye Elementary School and Cheongam Middle School, and, after the school hours and at night, stay at the dormitories of the traditional schools which are dedicated to moral education.
According to police, a teenage boy was bullied by two others living together with him in one of the dormitories, in February last year. The offenders, who habitually beat the victim and even sprayed their semen on him, were indicted by the prosecution in December for the alleged sex offense.
Police have found several more cases of alleged violence and bullying during their initial investigation into this case, including another boy forced to drink urine in March last year.
Since the cases were made known to the public recently, the mother of a teenage girl posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, March 24, claiming that her daughter was also bullied by three others who forced her to drink toilet water as well as laundry detergent.
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