Good morning, fellow Koreans,

Today, Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik is scheduled to make public the Government’s comprehensive measures to root out school violence.

Last December in Daegu, a case of school bullying led to a middle school student taking his own life. The Government did not come up with measures immediately after the incident. That was because it needed to work out fundamental measures to eradicate school violence, not a stopgap measure.

It was also important for us to build a sufficient public consensus ahead of formulating any government policy.

I have met with a wide range of people, including victims and offenders of school violence, their parents and homeroom teachers as well as other teachers and figures in educational organizations. I listened to what they had to say about the cause of and possible solutions to the problem.

On January 30, I made a visit to a local Wee Center, a youth counseling agency. There, I was told a story about a student who had suffered from school violence for more than nine years.

(Sohn Eun-jeong, counselor) “One of the students I met had been bullied at school for nearly nine years from the first grade of elementary school until the first year of high school. At one time, he was even locked in a bathroom for three hours. He could not look people in the eyes and always cast a wary look. He could not trust people and took a very defensive attitude.”

All previous Administrations only tried to channel their efforts into reducing the cost of private education, and they never realized the truth of how our children were doing at school.

In many cases, problems were recognized but were ignored and neglected. Some schools actively responded to such problems, but many other schools only tried to hide them for fear of receiving disadvantages in school evaluation.

People often say that children grow up fighting with friends. However, violence at school nowadays is quite different than it was at the time such a remark sounded valid. The age of children exerting violence is going down gradually, and the extent of physical and mental harm to the victims is very serious, tantamount to crimes. Unfortunately, many students who are violent do not appreciate the suffering of their victims.

The bigger problem lies in the fact that students who went through unspeakable suffering had no relevant person or organization to open their hearts to. Fearing revenge by the assailants, they could not even confide in their teachers or parents. By letting their inner suffering worsen without telling anybody else, some students even committed suicide. 

My fellow Koreans,

Now is high time for us all to join forces and take action to safeguard our children from school violence.

The comprehensive measures the Government will announce today center around three major directions, including the strict punishment of those who carry out violence, safe protection of the victim and improvements in the educational environment.

In the case of minor violence or first-time offenses, it is necessary to guide those students in the right direction. In other cases, however, the police will strictly deal with the violence.  

When I had a chance to meet with violent students, I found that they were not much different from most ordinary students. However, many of them were from disturbed families, or communication with parents was severed.

That said, helping them better adapt to school and society is no less important than punishment.

The following is the success story of Principal Yu Poong-hyeong of the Jeongmok Elementary School in Seoul.

(Yu Poong-hyeong, Principal of Joengmok Elementary School) “A third-grade girl in my school came to school to tease friends just for fun. Because of her parents’ divorce, she was suffering mentally, and her violence intensified. Then, we started to guide her continuously and helped her take part in various after-school programs at a local child center. At the center, she learned English, completed learning tasks and attended dance and physical training classes. In addition, we served her dinner before letting her return home. As a result, she became gentle, her eyes shone brightly and she came to have a radiant face.”

If we want to fundamentally root out school violence, it is more important than anything else to begin to nurture good character early in the student’s life. That is why the Government’s comprehensive measures emphasize strengthening character-building education drastically.

At the same time, the Government will expand physical education greatly in order to encourage students to relieve stress adversely affecting their studies and to learn the value of self-discipline and camaraderie.

Ultimately, we have to put in place a school where the students are not buried under the stress of entrance examinations but instead can visualize their dreams and feel happy.

Recently, I met a student named Jang Seon-ju who said,

(Jang Seon-ju, student) “There are students who are not interested in the lessons conducted in the classroom. They are bored and do not respond to the teacher’s questions. When they are rebuked, their self-esteem only deteriorates, so they often end up as a troublemaker. I hope to live in a society where students can fully demonstrate their talents, receive encouragement and build up self-esteem."

Building up a happy school is the true starting point of solving school violence.

This is one reason that the Government has all along tried to foster meister high schools and expand employment of high school graduates. This policy is expected to prove greatly beneficial in the long run.

It is a fact that the Government and our society in general have so far made a lot of efforts to improve the educational environment of the students. However, it seems as though we have overlooked the most important thing in the process.

At this juncture, it is imperative that all the entities—the Government, schools, homes— resolve to fulfill their own responsibilities. On this occasion, all the civic groups and organizations should join forces and transform the educational environment once and for all.

Fellow Koreans,

I am now on a tour of the four Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The main purpose of this trip lies in working with the countries that can be helpful when the world is experiencing economic difficulties. These countries keep large foreign exchange reserves and offer job opportunities. We need to strengthen relations with them and ensure a stable supply of oil from them. When I return home, I will make a detailed report to you.

The weather has been extremely cold lately. Take a good care of yourselves.

Thank you very much.