Multiple underage students were involved in the premediated assault.
A disturbing case of organized crime-style assault carried out by a group of elementary school students has left South Korea shaken and alarmed.
On June 23, KST, MBC‘s Hidden Eye reported on the case, revealing that eight teenagers, ranging from age 12 to 16, orchestrated a dangerous scam to assault and rob a man in his 40s. The students reportedly used a minor girl as bait to lure the victim to a motel, under the pretext of a “conditional meeting,” which refers to a transactional meeting, often with solicitation involved.
When the man showed up at the motel, the eight teens ambushed him, beating him up brutally with kicks and punches. One of them struck him with a fire extinguisher and knocked him unconscious. They posted the video of the assault on social media as well.
The group was arrested after another motel guest reported the disturbance to the authorities. Out of the eight students, the oldest one was 16, and the youngest one was 12, a 5th grader in elementary school. According to the police investigation, the group started recruiting female students to be bait, offering them money ranging between ₩1.00 million KRW (about $729 USD) to ₩5.00 million KRW (about $3,650 USD).
According to profiler Kwon Il Yong, who analyzed the crime on Hidden Eye, the students committed extreme violence to prevent the man from reporting the attack. He stated that the incident was “no different from organized crime,” given that it was planned thoroughly.
Prodile Pyo Chang Won also mentioned that two of these minors were runaways, while the rest met through social media. He pointed out that the case bore concerning similarities to past crimes that Korea has witnessed, including the infamous “valley murder” case, which started as a “conditional meeting” scam and snowballed into homicide.
Kwon Il Yong also opined that the young students might have been taken over by a “hero complex” against the man for seeking underage solicitation and were operating under the belief that they were punishing a criminal.
Five of the assailants, who are over 14 in age, are reportedly facing criminal charges, while the other three will be processed through juvenile court. However, no action has been taken against the man for alleged solicitation of a minor.
The case has delivered a great shock to the Korean public, leaving them to debate juvenile crimes and what should be done to prevent such cases in the future.
