Beloved actor breaks down in tears as he talks about his son’s horrific school violence, reveals that bullies go unpunished

Actor Kwon Oh Joong left netizens heartbroken after revealing his son’s school bullying experience.

On April 29, KST, Kwon makes a guest appearance KBS 1TV‘s variety show Hwang Shin Hye’s Let’s Live Together (literal translation of title) and shared his son’s story. The actor revealed that his son Hyuk Jun was a victim of school violence for an entire year due to his rare disease.

Kwon explained that his son has a rare genetic condition that results in muscle atrophy and developmental disabilities. Hyuk Jun is believed to be the first such case in Korea, and there are only ten known cases worldwide. The actor added that this disease is so rare that it doesn’t even have a name yet.

With his physical weakness, it was never easy for Hyuk Jun to make friends at school. Although he was mostly alone, Kwon said he never blamed his classmates, as children are unable to communicate or play with those who cannot keep their peace. However, things took an ugly turn when a group of classmates ended up physically assaulting his son.

Kwon mentioned that when his son was in middle school, he started randomly refusing to go to school and said someone punched him in the stomach. Finally, he went to meet the student who allegedly beat Hyuk Jun, but he flat out denied it, claiming that he was actually a friend who liked to play with Hyuk Jun often.

Kwon trusted the student’s explanation and even scolded his son when he got home. However, shortly thereafter he received a call from his son’s school informing him that his son was injured and needed to go to the emergency room. Upon arriving at the school, Kwon found his son with multiple stitches and a bleeding neck. That’s when he found out his son had been bullied by five students for a year.

This group of students would all act nice to Hyuk Jun, but then they would beat his stomach, hit him with a stick, and make him crawl when he went to the bathroom. The student Kwon spoke to before was also one of the perpetrators.

Kwon Oh Joong explained that his son suffered the neck injury because someone punched him when he stuck his head out the window to look outside. As the window broke, the shards of glass cut his skin. The incident was so serious that the police became involved, and it was only then that the students confessed their crime.

The actor lamented that his son’s perpetrators went unpunished. The main one was transferred, while the other four were just changed classes. Since voluntary school transfer erases records of school violence from a student’s academic records, the chances of the perpetrator facing any consequences for his actions in the future are also slim.

After suffering through such an unfair situation, Hyuk Jun was the one who ended up being ostracized by his classmates again. Kwon Oh Joong admitted that he only felt relief after his son finished middle and high school, although the latter was not a violent experience. The actor tearfully added that school violence not only breaks the child, but also the parents. He also expressed his wish to see his son finally live a normal life just like everyone else.