South Korea school violence committee deliberations surge 88% in five years

Deliberations by the School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee in South Korea have increased by nearly 88% over the last five years, reaching approximately 29,405 cases in the 2025 academic year. While the total number of reported school violence incidents has shown a slight downward trend recently, the cases requiring formal committee deliberation continue to rise annually.

Data provided by the Ministry of Education to National Assembly Education Committee Chair Kim Hee-jung indicates that the rate of cases resolved internally by school principals has dropped significantly. The internal resolution rate fell from 64.8% in the 2021 academic year to 48.3% in 2025, marking the first time it has fallen below half.

Specific types of violence have seen sharp increases. Bullying cases rose by 207.7%, and coercion increased by 173.1% since 2021. Other notable increases include verbal violence (up 146.8%), sexual violence (up 86.5%), physical violence (up 72.3%), and cyberbullying (up 65.0%).

Chairperson Kim noted that school violence handling is shifting from educational resolution toward punishment and legal disputes. She called on the Ministry of Education and regional offices to review field response systems and strengthen support for victimized students.