"Will Reporting Change Anything..." Cheonan High School Student Who Left a Post About School Violence Suffering and Passed Away

Police Investigate Teachers and Students
Notebook Contains Suicide Note and Victim Records
"After Counseling, Teacher Was Not Called Again"

According to Yonhap News on the 25th, the police have launched an investigation after a high school senior in Cheonan, Chungnam, left a post claiming to be a victim of school violence and subsequently died.

According to the bereaved family of the late Kim Sang-yeon (18), Kim was found in cardiac arrest in his room at his home in Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, around 7:15 p.m. on the 11th. He was taken to the hospital but passed away about 1 hour and 40 minutes later.

Later, a notebook found in Kim’s bag contained a will along with detailed accounts of three years of school violence he had endured.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim’s father, a bereaved family member, claimed in a phone interview with Yonhap News, "Since early May, my son stopped going to school and expressed his suffering from school violence. On the 4th, I called his homeroom teacher and asked to hold a school violence committee meeting. However, the school only said 'there was no school violence' and did not properly counsel my child, leaving the matter unattended for a week."

He sobbed, "When I think about how much my son, who never got to properly see the world, must have suffered and felt wronged, my heart is torn into a thousand pieces."

In response, a representative from the Cheonan Office of Education stated, "There has never been a school violence committee meeting related to Kim over the past three years. Recently, Kim frequently missed school, and the school informed his parents accordingly. We will fully cooperate with the police investigation regarding the presence or absence of school violence."

Meanwhile, the Cheonan Dongnam Police Station, which received a complaint from Kim’s family, is conducting a detailed investigation into three teachers who served as Kim’s homeroom teachers over the past three years and the students involved. They are also verifying the presence of school violence based on Kim’s smartphone and notebooks.

※ If you or someone around you is struggling with difficult issues such as depression, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling through suicide prevention hotlines ☎1577-0199, Hope Phone ☎129, Life Phone ☎1588-9191, and Youth Phone ☎1388.