South Korea stands up to its bullies

South Korean students
South Korean students take their College Scholastic Ability Test at a school on November 17, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea [Chung Sung-Jun/Reuters]

“I’d rather hit than be hit” – the age-old mentality of a bully, and South Korea is tackling it head-on. The country is undergoing a national reckoning on school bullying. Studies show that nearly one in three students suffered bullying from peers at school. And there has been an alarming rise in suicides by school-aged children. Some of the country’s best-known celebrities were also accused of bullying when they were teenagers. The ongoing series of scandals is shedding new light on what seems to be a rampant problem in the Asian nation.

In this episode: 

  • Ye-Rinne Park, journalist and independent filmmaker

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Khaled Soltan and our host Kevin Hirten, in for Malika Bilal. Amy Walters and Sonia Bhagat fact-checked this episode.

Our sound designer is Alex Roldan and lead of audience development and engagement is Aya Elmileik. Munera AlDosari and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers.

Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer, and Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Source: Al Jazeera