Cyberbullying and group bullying drive increase in school violence
Published: 16 Sep. 2025, 17:24
![The photo shows children near an elementary school in western Seoul on Sept. 5. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/16/86c5c110-59d0-4e52-9a60-ad8eb6961df3.jpg)
The photo shows children near an elementary school in western Seoul on Sept. 5. [YONHAP]
School violence in Korea has reached its highest level since surveys began in 2013, with 2.5 percent of students saying they experienced abuse in 2025. The rise was driven by increases in cyberbullying and group bullying, and elementary school students reported the highest rates.
The Ministry of Education released the results of its first 2025 school violence survey on Tuesday.
One case illustrates the trend. A 15-year-old middle school student was targeted on an Instagram account translated as "Middle School Anonymous", where posts mocked her appearance and behavior before escalating to threats of violence.
Police visited the school in response, and although the posts were later deleted, the student has continued to receive counseling for the lasting impact.
The Education Ministry survey covered 3.97 million students from fourth grade in elementary school to 12th grade in high school, and 3.26 million responded. Conducted online from April 14 to May 13, the survey showed that 2.5 percent of respondents said they had experienced school violence, up 0.4 percentage points from last year and higher than the 2.2 percent recorded in 2013.
Elementary students reported the highest rise, as their victimization rate rose 0.8 percentage points to reach 5 percent for the first time. Middle school rates also climbed to 2.1 percent, while high school rates rose to 0.7 percent.
By type of abuse, verbal harassment was most common at 39 percent, followed by group bullying at 16.4 percent, physical assault at 14.6 percent, cyberbullying at 7.8 percent and sexual violence at 6 percent, which was included in the survey for the first time this year.
![An elementary school in Gyeonggi [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/16/809d3301-f93d-4602-87eb-9b01ce70da1d.jpg)
An elementary school in Gyeonggi [YONHAP]
Compared to last year’s survey, reports of group bullying increased by 0.9 percentage points, and cyberbullying rose by 0.4 points. Verbal abuse dropped by 0.4 points, and physical violence declined by 0.9 points.
Most students said incidents occurred inside classrooms, accounting for 28.9 percent, and during breaks, at 30.1 percent. Victims most often told a parent or relative, at 36.4 percent, followed by a teacher at 29.8 percent. Of those who stayed silent, 24.5 percent said they feared the situation would escalate, while 21.3 percent considered the incident too minor to report.
Meanwhile, 1.1 percent of students admitted to bullying others, up 0.1 percentage points, and 6.1 percent said they witnessed school violence, up 1.1 points.
"After Covid-19 disrupted in-person interactions, students began placing more weight on online relationships, which has worsened cyberbullying," said lawyer Cho Won-jin.
A Ministry of Education official noted that the total number of school violence cases reported to authorities actually fell from 61,445 last year to 58,502 this year.
"Students are becoming more aware and sensitive to issues of school violence, which likely contributed to higher survey responses," the official said. "We will focus on the gap between survey response rates and the number of reported cases and strengthen support for educational solutions such as developing programs that help repair relationships."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE BO-RAM [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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