Taekwondo Instructor Who Assaulted 6-Year-Old Boy for Not Folding Dobok Properly Sent to Prosecution Without Detention

The head of a Taekwondo gym who bruised a student by hitting him for not organizing his dobok was sent to the prosecution without detention.

According to the Gimhae Jungbu Police Station in Gyeongnam on the 18th, Mr. A, a man in his 50s and the head of a Taekwondo gym in Gusan-dong, Gimhae City, is accused of repeatedly hitting the cheek and buttocks of 6-year-old boy B with his hand at the gym on January 29.

Gyeongnam Gimhae Jungbu Police Station.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

It is known that Mr. A committed the crime because boy B did not follow the instruction to organize his dobok and did not listen.

The fact of the damage was revealed when B’s parents found bruises with blood on B’s buttocks.

Photo of the victimized child posted on an online community. [Photo source=Captured from online community]

B’s parents posted on an online community, “The child said the head instructor gave him a butt pat, but we thought it was just a gentle pat and didn’t take it seriously,” and “That evening, we saw bruises with blood on the child’s buttocks.”

“The next day, we went to the gym and asked to see the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, but they said there was no obligation to install it inside the office, and that the CCTV covering the gym was removed last year during replacement,” they added. “Feeling uneasy, we reported it to the police and later saw shocking scenes on the CCTV footage.”

They continued, “On the CCTV, the head instructor showed the child how to fold the dobok once, and when the child couldn’t fold it, he hit him,” expressing anger, “How could a 51-month-old baby fold that?”

Earlier, B’s father filed a complaint against Mr. A at the Gimhae Jungbu Police Station on January 31.

The police secured CCTV footage from inside the gym and confirmed Mr. A’s criminal acts, and on the 15th, they sent Mr. A, who admitted to the crime, to the prosecution without detention.