Jung Seung-je [Channel A 'Teachers']
Jung Seung-je [Channel A 'Teachers']

Jung Seung-je, one of South Korea's most prominent math tutors, has delivered a sharp rebuke of the country's extreme private education culture, which pushes children toward medical school preparation from infancy.

A video titled "Korean, English or math — which matters most?" was posted Wednesday on the YouTube channel Chimchakman. The clip featured Jung, Korean-language instructor Yu Dae-jong and English instructor Kim Ji-young, all of whom appear on the Channel A program Teachers 3: Retake War.

Jung said his reason for joining the show was "to demonstrate that doing things properly is enough," and raised the broader problem of what he described as a deeply dysfunctional education system in South Korea.

"In math, kids start entering medical school prep classes at age 3 or 4," Jung said. "This country has completely lost its mind."

When Yu expressed disbelief — "They start at 4? Kids that age can't even form memories" — Jung pushed back harder. "Med-school prep starts at 4. I genuinely cannot understand why the state doesn't treat that as child abuse and detain people for it. I think the government needs to step in and make arrests," Jung said. Yu agreed, saying, "It is child abuse."

Jung added that the show aimed to push back against a culture that treats such practices as normal. "I want to use the program to show that this isn't right — not just challenge the atmosphere that accepts it as acceptable," Jung said.

The criticism comes amid a broader controversy over what has been dubbed the "age-4 and age-7 exams" — a trend that spread from the Daechi-dong area of Gangnam in Seoul, in which hagwon and other private education providers administer level-placement tests to toddlers. The government banned such tests for the purpose of sorting children into ability-based classes starting in October, and also required private tutors and tutoring center operators serving young children to register with their local education office. Critics say the measures fall short, however, noting that they do not prohibit exam-prep tutoring itself and that fines for violations are capped at 3 million won ($2,240) — widely seen as too low to deter the practice.


paq@heraldcorp.com