Regarding the death of a third-year high school student in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, after leaving a message complaining about school violence, the school said it was not aware of the circumstances of the school violence.

Yesterday (25th), the school said that the late Kim Sang-yeon (18) had never been bullied or reported school violence since he entered the school.

In an interview with Yonhap News, the principal of the school said, "We conducted an internal investigation after Kim's death, but neither the homeroom teacher nor the director of the student affairs department knew about the massacre," adding, "Even if the student does not report it directly, if he or she is aware of the situation of the massacre, he must report it, but there was no circumstance to suspect the victim of the bombing anywhere in Kim's school life."

In addition, regarding the fact that Kim received counseling from the school's counseling organization on three occasions between 17~20 last month, he claimed, "All three consultations were conducted at the request of Kim's mother from the homeroom teacher, and they were about his studies and career," and "the homeroom teacher did not hear (about the fact of being a victim of school violence)."

Kim was found in cardiac arrest in his room at around 7 p.m. on the 11th and was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

Later, a small notebook was found in Kim's bag, which contained information about Kim's victims of school violence from 7~8 classmates in the past 3 years.

The notebook detailed the situations in which Kim was bullied by his assailants, from being taken and posted on social media with ridiculous photos taken and posted on social media, to being bullied by his assailants, to being demeaned for having previously attended school in another part of the country, to being slapped with "I'll call you honorary Cheonan," to the fact that his future hopes are to be police officers.

In the process, Kim wrote that he learned that there was a group messenger in the class except for him, and that he later witnessed his friends who were eating with him making excuses and trying to distance themselves from him.

Kim's parents claimed, "When the child refused to go to school earlier this month, complaining of being a victim of school violence, he asked his homeroom teacher to open a school violence prevention committee, but he was ignored," adding, "If he had known the seriousness of the request and dealt with it, the child would not have been like this, but the system did not work at all."

However, an official from the Cheonan Education Support Agency said, "If the damage situation is specific or found, of course it should be held, but there was no such issue."

A police official said, "There are discrepancies between the bereaved family and the school's claims," adding, "We are investigating whether there was harassment toward Mr. Kim and neglect on the part of the school."

While the police investigated the details of the incident and Kim's smartphone records, Kim's parents filed a complaint with the Cheonan Southeast Police Station against the teachers and students mentioned as perpetrators in the notebooks they left behind.

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(Photo=Yonhap News)