Students film, sell staged 'yacharul' fight videos as new school violence alert issued

School violence victims reach 91,600, up from last year

Elementary school victim response rate highest at 5.7 percent

Perpetration response rate falls to 0.8 percent amid 'horseplay vs. bullying' perception gap

'Yacharul' new bullying trend triggers alert targeting filming, distribution

A new form of school violence known as "yacharul" -- in which a stronger student gathers weaker students to fight each other, then films the confrontation to post online or sell -- has emerged in schools. The photo shows students facing off. [Generated with ChatGPT]

A new type of school violence called "yacharul" -- in which a stronger student rounds up weaker students to fight each other, then films the confrontation to post online or sell the footage -- has emerged at schools nationwide. The Ministry of Education and the Korean National Police Agency issued a joint alert on the new bullying tactic. They also moved to strengthen cooperation with metropolitan and provincial education offices to strictly investigate and review the fights, as well as students who arrange, film or distribute the footage.

According to the first 2026 School Violence Survey released by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, the victim response rate stood at 2.9 percent, up 0.4 percentage points from last year. About 91,600 students said they had experienced violence. By school level, the victim response rate was highest among elementary school students at 5.7 percent, followed by 2.3 percent for middle school students and 0.8 percent for high school students -- all higher than last year.

The survey was conducted online from April 14 to May 13, targeting about 3.9 million students from fourth grade in elementary school through the final year of high school. About 3.19 million students took part, for a participation rate of 81.9 percent. The survey covered the period from the second semester of last year through the time of the survey.

The Ministry of Education's first 2026 School Violence Survey. [Provided by the Ministry of Education, generated with ChatGPT]

Staged fights filmed and sold: 'yacharul' bullying spreads

By type, verbal abuse was the most common form of violence at 37.8 percent, followed by group ostracism at 17.1 percent. Physical violence accounted for 15.7 percent of cases, and cyberbullying accounted for 7 percent. Compared with last year, verbal abuse fell 1.2 percentage points and cyberbullying fell 0.8 percentage points, while physical violence rose 1.1 percentage points and group ostracism rose 0.7 percentage points. Physical violence accounted for 17.5 percent of cases among elementary school students, higher than the 13.7 percent among middle schoolers and 10.8 percent among high schoolers.

A new type of violence in which students set specific rules for fights -- known as "yacharul" or "sparring" -- has also been spreading. "As shown by the Korean National Police Agency's alert on this new type of violence, it appears to be occurring frequently in schools," a Ministry of Education official said. "We have also received reports of serious cases in which a stronger student gathers weaker students to fight, films the confrontation, posts it online and sells the footage."

The Ministry of Education and the Korean National Police Agency issued "New Violence Type Alert No. 11" on the yacharul trend in August. The ministry plans to strengthen cooperation with metropolitan and provincial education offices to strictly review and act on serious perpetrators. The police agency will focus on prevention education through school resource officers. The two agencies are also working with the Korea Communications Commission to improve related regulations addressing the online distribution of fight videos.

The ministry is also reviewing how to respond to students who do not fight directly but arrange, aid or film such incidents. "It is difficult to say categorically whether action can or cannot be taken," a ministry official said. "We will discuss with metropolitan and provincial education offices how to convey reasonable judgment criteria to review committee members."

However, the ministry signaled a stronger response toward the distribution and sale of such videos. "We consider selling the footage itself to be a malicious act that turns victims into tools," the official said. "We will work with education offices to ensure systematic investigation and review."

A photo related to school violence. [Getty Images Bank]

Victims rise, perpetrators fall: a perception gap on bullying

Unlike the higher victim and witness response rates, the perpetration response rate actually fell. About 26,100 students said they had bullied others, putting the perpetration response rate at 0.8 percent, down 0.3 percentage points from 1.1 percent last year. The rate fell from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent among elementary school students and from 0.9 percent to 0.7 percent among middle schoolers. It remained unchanged at 0.1 percent for high schoolers. The witness response rate, by contrast, rose from 6.1 percent to 6.7 percent, with about 214,500 students saying they had witnessed bullying.

The Ministry of Education cited differing student perceptions of the same behavior as one reason for the gap between victim and perpetrator responses. At field discussions, participants noted that "many cases start as horseplay but escalate into school violence," and that "the same behavior can be perceived by the victim as bullying but by the perpetrator as mere horseplay." In fact, "horseplay or no particular reason" was the most cited reason for bullying, at 30.6 percent.

Sung Yoon-sook, a senior research fellow at the Korea Youth Policy Institute who analyzed the survey, said, "As increased use of digital devices reduces young people's face-to-face relationship experience and empathy skills, conflicts between friends can develop into school violence. Growing sensitivity among students and parents toward school violence has also contributed to the rise in the victim response rate."

The handling of school violence cases has also increasingly moved into formal procedures. Last year, 56,880 school violence cases were filed with district education offices, down from the previous year, but the share that proceeded to a formal review rose to 51.7 percent. The share of cases in which the review board determined that no school violence had occurred also rose, to 22.1 percent.

To reduce cases where minor conflicts move directly into review or judicial procedures, the Ministry of Education will also strengthen educational resolution and relationship-recovery efforts. It plans to develop customized programs to expand a "relationship-recovery grace period" system introduced in March for first- and second-grade elementary school students.

Shim Min-cheol, director general of the Ministry of Education's Student Health and Safety Policy Bureau, said, "We will do our best to establish effective prevention education that builds real conflict-resolution skills, and to root educational solutions centered on relationship recovery in schools. We will also closely cooperate with related ministries, including the Korean National Police Agency, to respond swiftly to new forms of school violence that continue to emerge in the field."

brunch@heraldcorp.com