The Real-Life Mundeong... Burn Scars on the Arm, Shocking School Violence Reality

"He used to hit when upset, now became a nurse and social worker"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Joo-hee] Victim Park Seong-min, who said he was bullied like in the Netflix drama 'The Glory,' detailed the school violence he experienced. Although a long time has passed, burn scars from a hair straightener remain clearly visible on his arm. Park said his parents advised him against appearing on the show, but he decided to participate to forget the trauma and find a new life.

On the 7th, Park appeared on Channel S's 'Jingeog-ui Unnideul - Gomin Cut Salon' and shared his experience of school violence during middle school. Although Park had not watched the drama 'The Glory,' he said his friends around him reacted by saying, "It sounds like your story." He stated that, like Moon Dong-eun, the protagonist of 'The Glory,' who was assaulted with a hair straightener, he also suffered the same kind of bullying.

Park said, "In the 2nd and 3rd years of middle school, I was beaten a lot by two classmates and also suffered burns from a hair straightener," adding, "When they were in a bad mood, they stabbed my whole body with a fork, and I was hit with a plastic pipe, which tore my iris." At first, he borrowed small amounts of money, but the more he refused their demands, the larger the amounts of money they took from him became.

A scene from the Netflix drama 'The Glory'./Photo by Netflix

After graduation, he learned about the perpetrators through social networking services (SNS), and they had obtained qualifications as social workers and nurses and were living well as if nothing had happened. He confessed, "I was angry and creeped out."

Park showed the burn scars clearly left on his right forearm and eventually shed tears. Due to the trauma from the violence, even when he went to a hair salon, seeing a hairdresser holding a hair straightener made him feel the fear that "they might hurt me."

Eventually, a teacher who noticed the injuries on his body revealed the victimization, and a school violence committee was held, but the punishment for one of the perpetrators was limited to 40 hours of community service and a one-week suspension.

Park said the most frequent attack he heard after experiencing school violence was, "You deserved to be bullied," and he revealed that he wanted to say, "I am not at fault," which was the reason he decided to appear on the show.