Unconscious for 11 Days... 5-Year-Old Child Dies from Abuse at Taekwondo Dojang

Charges Applied to the Director Are Also Likely to Change

A 5-year-old child who fell unconscious due to child abuse at a Taekwondo gym in Yangju-si, Gyeonggi Province, has ultimately passed away.

On the morning of the 19th, at Uijeongbu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, the police transferred Taekwondo instructor Mr. A, who was arrested on charges of causing a 5-year-old student to fall into cardiac arrest and unconsciousness, to the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, the investigative authorities reported that 5-year-old boy A, who had been unconscious, was pronounced dead that day. It had been 11 days since he lost consciousness. With A's death, the charges against Mr. B are expected to be changed to include child abuse resulting in death.

Earlier, on the 12th at around 7:20 PM, at a Taekwondo gym in Deokgye-dong, Yangju-si, the director Mr. B rolled up a mat and placed boy A upside down inside it, leaving him there for more than 20 minutes. This incident led to A suffering cardiac arrest. A was taken to the hospital unconscious but never regained consciousness.

Witnesses testified that A shouted "Please save me" and "Help me," but Mr. B continued to leave him unattended. Mr. B reportedly stated that "it was a joke" and that "there was no intent." However, Mr. B also deleted the Taekwondo gym's CCTV footage while A was receiving CPR.

The police arrested Mr. B on charges of child abuse causing serious injury and transferred him for prosecution on the 19th.