For Using a Cellphone in the Car... Taekwondo Academy Director Repeatedly 'Whacks' Elementary School Student on the Head

Police: "Investigating the Exact Circumstances of the Incident"

The director of a Taekwondo academy in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, has been booked by police on suspicion of injuring an elementary school student by striking the pupil on the head several times with a cellphone after the student used a cellphone in the vehicle.

According to police and other sources on November 5, the Jinju Police Station is investigating the academy director, identified as A, who is in his 40s, on suspicion of child abuse under the Child Welfare Act.

Photo unrelated to a specific expression in the article. Pixabay

A is suspected of hitting B, an elementary school boy seated in the front passenger seat, on the head about 10 times with a cellphone on October 29 while driving the academy's vehicle and taking students home. He allegedly did so because B had violated a rule prohibiting cellphone use inside the vehicle. B sustained a head injury and received hospital treatment.

It is understood that other students, including B's older sister, were also in the back seat at the time.

The incident came to light after B's sister, who was riding in the vehicle, filmed what happened on her cellphone, and the video and a post about the incident were shared on social media.

The video, which was posted online, captured a man believed to be A verbally abusing the child, along with the sound of someone being struck with an object. The man in the video said, "Put your hands down," "You XX punk," "What are you crying for? What did you do right?" "Do you think this is a joke?" and "Aren't you putting your hands down? Don't lower them, you XX punk." The child who was assaulted, tearfully, repeatedly said, "No, no."

A police official said, "We have booked A on suspicion of child abuse and are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.