Authorities say students coercing weaker peers into violent altercations
In Korea, the share of elementary school students reporting school violence reached a record 5.7 percent. The overall rate of reported school violence across elementary, middle and high schools hit 2.9 percent, the highest level since the survey began.
Educators are increasingly concerned as serious forms of school violence, such as the so-called “yacha rules” and forced fights, become more frequent.
The Ministry of Education and 16 regional education offices announced Wednesday the results of the 2026 first-round survey on school violence, which covered approximately 3.9 million students in the fourth through 12th grades. The ministry conducted the online survey covering all eligible students over four weeks starting in April, with approximately 3.19 million, or 81.9 percent, participating.
The overall share of students reporting school violence stood at 2.9 percent, up 0.4 percentage points from the first-round survey last year. This marks the highest level since the education ministry began surveying all eligible students in 2013. After dropping to 0.9 percent in 2020 due to the suspension of in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reported rate has climbed for six consecutive years — 1.1 percent in 2021, 1.7 percent in 2022, 1.9 percent in 2023, 2.1 percent in 2024 and 2.5 percent in 2025.
Elementary school students reported the highest rate at 5.7 percent, followed by middle school students at 2.3 percent and high school students at 0.8 percent. Every school level recorded an increase of between 0.1 and 0.7 percentage points, with elementary school students reaching their highest level since 2013.
Verbal harassment was the most prevalent form of abuse at 37.8 percent. Group bullying followed at 17.1 percent, physical violence at 15.7 percent and cyberviolence at 7 percent. Verbal harassment accounted for the highest share at every school level.
What are ‘yacha rules’?
The education ministry highlighted emerging forms of school violence, noting that forced fights and so-called “yacha rules” are becoming more frequent.
So-called “yacha rules” originally referred to bare-knuckle fights conducted under a code of silence, an agreement not to involve police. Recently, physically stronger students have forced weaker peers into such fights at school, filming the altercations to post them online or sell them for money. An education ministry official said the conduct constitutes physical violence and can involve coercion, adding that distributing the footage qualifies as cyberviolence.
“We will strengthen cooperation with regional education offices to ensure that such cases are reviewed rigorously and appropriate action is taken,” the official said.
The education ministry and the National Police Agency issued an alert in August over “yacha rules” as an emerging form of violence. The National Police Agency plans to provide prevention education through school police officers, while the education ministry will work with the Korea Media and Communications Commission to improve relevant procedures to respond quickly when school violence videos spread online.
Pulling a ‘prank’ leading reason for bullying
In contrast to the rising share of students reporting abuse, the share of students who admitted to bullying others stood at 0.8 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from last year. When asked for the most common reason for committing school violence, “as a prank or for no particular reason” ranked first at 30.6 percent, followed by “because the other student picked on me first” at 21.7 percent and “because of a misunderstanding or disagreement with the other student” at 12.6 percent.
During a prior roundtable on school violence organized by the education ministry, participants said that incidents starting as pranks frequently escalate into violence. They added that victims and perpetrators often view the same conduct differently throughout this process.
Seong Yun-sook, a senior research fellow at the National Youth Policy Institute who analyzed the survey, said that as young people spend more time using digital devices in daily life, they lack adequate opportunities to build direct, face-to-face relationships, which may weaken their ability to empathize with others.
“The increase is the combined result of peer conflicts evolving into school violence due to this dynamic, and growing sensitivity toward the issue among students and parents,” Seong said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.
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