Author So Jae-won said he will pursue criminal and civil litigation after a school violence committee handed down its lightest possible punishment to the student who assaulted his children.
On Wednesday, So wrote on his Instagram that the school violence deliberation committee had issued its ruling against the student who attacked his children. "It was exactly the slap on the wrist I expected — the lightest possible Level 1 punishment," he wrote.
Under the School Violence Prevention Act, measures against offending students range from Level 1 to Level 9. A Level 1 disposition requires the offending student to submit a written apology to the victim.
So sharply criticized the committee system, saying it is "centered not on holding the offending student accountable for the assault, but on helping that student return to school and daily life," while victims receive little more than psychological treatment support.
"Can a body that forces a child to face every day the student who assaulted two children and left them injured for two weeks truly be called one that exists for victims?" he wrote.
So said he showed his child the ruling, and the child responded: "My sibling and I were really hurt — why are they just giving us one letter of apology? Do those people actually think that's a punishment?"
So said he also explained to his child the limits of filing a criminal complaint. He told the child that if the offending student had not yet reached their birthday, they would be classified as a juvenile under criminal age and would not even be investigated, while his own child would be. Upon hearing this, the child burst into tears, saying: "They hit us, we got hurt and had to go to the hospital, and I'm still scared of them — how does writing one apology letter make any sense?"
So said he has filed a freedom-of-information request for the offending student's testimony before the committee and has also secured CCTV footage of the assault and the committee's disposition documents.
"I will document and preserve everything — through criminal proceedings, civil litigation and administrative appeals, all the way to the end," he wrote. "Ten years? Twenty years? For me, and for every father in the world, that is a light burden to bear."
Earlier, So had disclosed the school violence incident on Sept. 20, saying his two children were unilaterally attacked by two peers in front of him, leaving the older child in a partial cast and the younger unable to walk properly for several days.
At the time, he said the offending student's side had acknowledged wrongdoing and expressed willingness to apologize, and that he was torn between forgiveness and seeking punishment. The following day, he said he would no longer hold onto "forgiveness" dressed up as virtue through arrogance and pride, and that he would pursue appropriate accountability from the offending student.
So is the author of the source novel behind the film "Beastie Boys," as well as the original novels for the films "Hope" and "Tunnel."
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