"A Healthy Child Arrived Unconscious at Taekwondo Dojang"…A Mother's Desperate Cry

Taekwondo Dojang Child Abuse Case: Mother's Emotional Post Revealed
"Went in fine, came back to me unconscious"

A statement written by the mother of a 4-year-old boy who fell into a coma after being abused by the head instructor of a Taekwondo academy in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, has been made public.

The victim boy's mother, Ms. A, revealed the situation through her social media (SNS) account on the day after the incident, the 13th, stating, "(My child) is currently in a brain death state, and they are forcibly stimulating his heart with medication." She continued, "The whole family and relatives have gathered to meet one last time, not knowing when cardiac arrest might occur," and lamented, "Yesterday morning, my child went to kindergarten in good health, played in the water, and then came to me unconscious at the Taekwondo academy."

Ambulance. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article.

Ms. A expressed her feelings, saying, "His brain has ceased functioning, and all the blood vessels in his face have burst. He is barely surviving with a ventilator as an empty shell that cannot see, hear, or feel. I am barely holding on to my sanity and staying by his side."

She also cried out, "All the professors and doctors at the hospital are telling me to prepare myself mentally," adding, "He was not originally sick, and this struck like a bolt from the blue overnight. How am I supposed to prepare my heart for this?"

The incident occurred earlier on the 12th. At around 7:40 p.m. that day, the police and fire authorities received a report from a clinic located in the same building as a Taekwondo academy in Deokgye-dong, Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, stating that "a 5-year-old boy is not breathing," and they promptly responded.

When the fire authorities arrived at the scene and found the victim child, he was already in cardiac arrest. Emergency measures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) were performed, and he was rushed to the hospital. Master A has not regained consciousness and is currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.

The police urgently arrested Mr. B, a man in his 30s and the head instructor of the Taekwondo academy, at the scene. According to the police investigation, Mr. B reportedly placed the victim child upside down between rolled-up mats and left him there for about 10 to 20 minutes. When the child stopped breathing, Mr. B took him to the clinic in the same building as the Taekwondo academy.

Additionally, Mr. B was found to have deleted CCTV footage capturing the incident to destroy evidence. During the police investigation, Mr. B reportedly stated, "I did it as a joke." The police have booked Mr. B on charges of child abuse causing serious injury under the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes and plan to apply for an arrest warrant after investigating the specific circumstances of the incident.