Court orders middle school bully's parents to pay $15,500 in damages to victimized student, mother
Published: 08 Mar. 2026, 15:00
![A flag flutters in front of the Busan District Court in Busan in this file photo. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/08/0f70a770-c549-4188-b731-ed50fc0a39be.jpg)
A flag flutters in front of the Busan District Court in Busan in this file photo. [YONHAP]
A court ordered the parents of a middle school student who bullied a classmate and assaulted the classmate’s mother to pay around 23 million won ($15,500) in damages, according to the legal community on Sunday.
The Busan District Court’s eastern branch issued the ruling in a damages lawsuit filed by the victimized student and three family members against the parents of the offending student, ordering them to pay a total of about 23 million won in compensation.
The offending student teased a classmate near a park in Busan on March 19, 2023, according to the ruling. When the victim's mother intervened, the student pushed her to the ground and kicked her while threatening the victimized student.
Following the incident, education authorities convened a school violence countermeasures committee, which ordered the victimized student to undergo psychological counseling and imposed disciplinary measures — including a ban on contacting, threatening or retaliating against the victim and 10 hours of community service — on the offending student.
The offending student’s parents filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the disciplinary action, but the claim was dismissed, and the ruling was finalized.
The civil court also found the parents of the offending student liable.
“The offending student's actions constitute an illegal act, and the defendants are at fault for neglecting their duty to educate [...] and supervise their child,” the court said.
The court ordered the parents of the offending student to pay 7.9 million won to the victim’s mother as compensation for emotional distress and to cover her orthopedic and psychiatric treatment costs and related medication expenses.
The parents of the offending student were also ordered to pay 13.27 million won to the victimized student as compensation for emotional distress and to help pay for psychiatric treatment and psychological counseling.
Additionally, the court ordered the parents to pay 1 million won in damages to each of the victims' grandparents.
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 HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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