Attitudes toward school bullying harden as Korea's education system scrambles to keep up

Just a few years ago, school bullying was often brushed off as youthful misbehavior or little more than fights between students. In recent years, however, public attitudes toward the issue have changed dramatically.

Public scrutiny toward perpetrators has also intensified. Celebrities, athletes and even their children are coming under intense criticism over school bullying allegations and seeing their careers and reputations unravel almost overnight. Likewise, social awareness of the issue has also grown significantly.

Education authorities have also pursued policy changes by shifting responsibility for handling school bullying cases from individual schools to local education offices.

Following a 2019 revision to the Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures Against Violence in Schools, responsibilities previously handled by schools were transferred the following year to school violence deliberation committees under district education offices. The aim was to improve expertise in reviewing cases and ensure more thorough responses to school bullying.

The most decisive turning point came when bullying records began to affect college admissions.

The change was sparked by revelations that the son of lawyer Chung Sun-sin, who had been appointed head of the National Police Agency's National Office of Investigation in early 2023, had been accepted to Seoul National University — Korea’s top university — even though the son had been forced to transfer to a different high school for bullying a peer in his previous school.

In April of the same year,  the Ministry of Education announced a comprehensive set of measures, including the inclusion of school bullying records in university admissions. Following the measures, 147 universities, including Seoul National University, voluntarily incorporated school bullying records into admissions reviews beginning with the 2025 academic year.

The Education Ministry also announced in August 2023 that all universities would require the inclusion of school bullying records across all admissions tracks, including the CSAT, essay-based admissions and practical skill evaluations, starting in the 2026 academic year. More recently, some high school admissions processes, including those for science high schools and specialized schools for academically talented students, have also begun taking such records into account.

Tougher rules lead to fiercer legal battles

As concerns grew over the impact of school bullying records on admissions, students and parents are determined to avoid leaving marks on their records — at all costs.

Even incidents that might once have ended with apologies and reconciliation are increasingly escalating into legal battles as students accused of bullying file retaliatory complaints against their accusers to frame the incident as a case of shared fault, pressure the other side or reduce the level of disciplinary action.

The number of school bullying cases filed with the Seoul Administrative Court surged from 51 in 2022 to 134 last year. The court expanded the number of dedicated divisions handling such cases from two to four in February.

“From the perspective of admissions officers, even minor disciplinary actions related to school bullying can become an important factor in admissions decisions,” said Kim Ju-hyeon, a lawyer at law firm Sugar Square Law & Advisors. “The increasingly strict stance on school bullying is contributing to the sharp rise in reports and lawsuits.”

Fixes made to the rule book

Education authorities have moved to revise the system to prevent side effects such as the surge in litigation.

One major measure was the introduction of the school bullying investigator system in February 2024. Under the system, retired teachers or police officers appointed by district education offices investigate cases and report their findings to schools and education authorities. The goal was to reduce the administrative burden on teachers by having dedicated investigators specialize in handling school bullying cases.

Critics, however, say excluding teachers — who know the students and circumstances best — from investigations has made it more difficult to uncover the truth and pursue  constructive  solutions. Some investigators have also been accused of treating the work as little more than a side job that pays between 100,000 won and 200,000 won ($67 and $133) per case and approaching investigations irresponsibly.

Teachers, meanwhile, have become less willing to intervene even in minor cases as their authority and responsibility over school bullying matters have diminished, believing that dedicated investigators will handle them. This has significantly weakened schools’ ability to mediate conflicts.

Some education offices have introduced measures focused more on educational mediation.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education introduced a relationship recovery reflection program last year for lower-grade elementary school students. The program seeks to encourage reconciliation through conversation and mediation, rather than immediately referring minor cases to school violence deliberation committees.

Restoring the authority of teachers 

Experts say restoring teachers’ authority, which has been weakened amid what critics call excessive legal disputes, must come first.

“In the past, teachers could resolve minor issues through guidance and educational intervention, but now, disputes quickly escalate into legal battles,” said Hyun Kyung-hui, spokesperson for the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union. “Teachers are increasingly reluctant to intervene in school bullying cases out of fear that situations may spiral out of control, and the role of schools is collapsing.”

Experts also stress the need for legal and institutional protections so teachers, who understand students and classrooms best, can actively mediate school bullying cases.

“Teachers need legal immunity so they are not easily dragged into lawsuits over claims such as emotional child abuse when investigating or mediating school bullying cases, unless there is intentional misconduct or gross negligence,” said Park Ju-hyung, a professor of education at Gyeongin National University of Education. “When malicious complaints are recognized as violations of teachers’ rights, there should also be firm psychological support for teachers.”

A supervisor at a district education office in the Seoul metropolitan area emphasized the importance of sincere apologies and restoring teachers’ authority.

“True recovery for victims must begin with a sincere apology from the other party, but that is impossible under the current punishment-centered system,” the supervisor said. “As educational institutions rather than disciplinary bodies, schools need mechanisms that establish teachers’ authority as educators so they can mediate conflicts within schools.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY HAN CHAN-WOO, BYUN MIN-CHUL [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]