Novelist So Jae-won. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]
Novelist So Jae-won. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]

Novelist So Jae-won has publicly revealed that his child was a victim of school violence, sharing his struggle over whether to forgive the perpetrators.

On Sunday, So posted a lengthy message on Instagram saying his child had been subjected to school violence and that he had filed a formal report. "An investigator from the district education office came out directly and swift action was taken," he wrote.

He added that because CCTV footage had been secured quickly and video had been recorded at the time, the perpetrating students and their parents admitted wrongdoing without offering any excuses.

So wrote that he had watched his child being assaulted one-sidedly by two peers but was unable to intervene immediately. "All I could do was check where the CCTV cameras were and record video on my phone," he said.

He said he had initially thought the children were playing roughly, and that from experience he knew that scolding or physically stopping a child at play could expose him to accusations of child abuse.

So said that once he determined his children were being attacked without provocation, he began recording video in case the perpetrators later denied it.

He recalled an incident when his child was around 4 years old and had pushed a friend, after which he took the child to a local police substation so an officer could explain that violence was wrong. He wrote that his firm parenting principle — "never hit another person" — now seemed to have left his children vulnerable to injury.

"Because of my flawed teaching, my child had to wear a half-cast and suffered injuries that made it difficult to walk properly for several days," he wrote.

So consulted a lawyer together with the children's mother, then filed a school violence report with a medical certificate attached.

"Because the evidence was solid, there were no surprises in how the case unfolded," he wrote. He added that when the perpetrating students and their parents bowed their heads in apology, the fierce anger he had felt began to drain away.

However, he said his child told him there was no courage to face the perpetrator and no desire to receive an apology. "In a moment like this, should I comfort my child and teach the virtue of forgiveness and giving someone a new chance? Or should I teach the lesson that fitting punishment must always follow?" he wrote, laying bare his dilemma.

"I honestly cannot bring myself to decide," he added. "I would sincerely like to hear the heartfelt advice of parents who have been through this before."

So is the author of the original novel behind the film "Beastie Boys," as well as the source novels for the films "Hope" and "Tunnel." He also wrote the screenplay for the drama series "Goodbye to Goodbye," adapting it from his own novel of the same name.


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