Four High School Students Expelled for Years of Bullying in Chungnam

In Chungnam's Cheongyang, four high school students have been expelled after being charged with severe bullying over a four-year period. The students were reported to have bound a fellow classmate, referred to as A, with duct tape, exposed parts of his body for photographs, and forced him into acts of drinking and smoking. The Cheongyang Education Support Office recently communicated this decision to A's family following a school violence review committee meeting. The committee also imposed measures to protect A, including prohibiting contact and any acts of intimidation or retaliation from the perpetrators. The committee stated that the students had committed numerous acts of physical and verbal violence, as well as extortion, causing A to endure humiliating and distressing experiences for over three years, leading to significant psychological harm. The students are under police investigation for allegedly assaulting A and stealing approximately 6 million won (around $5,000) in valuables over 165 incidents from October 2022 until April 2025. Although the police sought arrest warrants for the students, the court denied the requests, citing their young age and status as first-time offenders. Additionally, the police are investigating four other classmates who may have participated in the bullying, all of whom attended the same school as A until middle school.