[NEWS FOCUS]Pre-teen gangsters form regional networks via Internet

Hundreds of juvenile gangsters rent a bar some weekends in Seoul for raucous get-togethers that feature shows such as one billed as the "Sex Machine" in which couples imitate and sometimes even perform sex acts on stage.

Sometimes there are "slave nights" in which gang members are "sold" to the highest bidders and do whatever their "masters" or "mistresses" want for a set period of time.

These were examples given by a junior high school teacher, Jeong Se-yeong, as he lifted the veil on a new shocking culture that is permeating schools nationwide and causing widespread concern: iljinhoe, or, literally, a group of first-rate students.

Only first-rate students who can and are willing to fight and are judged to be good-looking can join a unit of the gang which, Jeong said, numbers about 400,000 - or five percent of the 7.8 million primary and secondary school students in the nation.

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Jeong, who has interviewed more than 500 student hooligans since 1999, told a recent workshop held by the National Police Agency that a small number of bullies network through the Internet controlling the iljinhoe.

"In 2000, the Kim Dae-jung administration completed an education information project by linking nationwide schools with high speed Internet. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the activities of iljinhoe marked a turning point; the association of iljinhoe has taken off," Jeong said.

A former iljinhoe member said networking starts at an online community in a school or district. "On a portal Web Site, we promote (our community of school or district) by asking others (iljinhoe) to register to our homepage," said the 16-year-old former gangster, who asked not to be identified.

Yonhap news agency said the Web site not only helps arrange large parties but also provides sex tips and porno clips.

"They share lewd material on the Internet and commit gang rapes to strengthen the solidarity of members. It is a way of confirming their loyalty to the group," Yonhap quoted Kang Dae-il, an investigator at the National Police Agency as saying.

One member recently put an online message in which he described assaulting a junior high school girl with three other students, according to Jeong.

Jeong said based on their network, the gangsters keep bullying a student even after he or she transfers to another school.

Alarmed by the spread of bullies online, police recently hurriedly shut down 20 Web sites created by gangsters, and launched further investigations into other suspected online communities.

However, officials said, it is difficult to block their activities in cyber space given that bullies can still network via "buddybuddy," a popular one-to-one messenger among youngsters.

Lee Dong-jin, a sociology professor of Kyungpook National University said that violent groups are rampant at schools. "Albeit not a form of gangsters, but all schools have groups of students who gang up and inflict damage on students," said Lee, who studied school violence by interviewing dozens of bullies in 2003.

Many surveys also have shown that school violence is not something easily dismissed. According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, for example, one out of five students experienced school violence and one in two students either experienced or had heard of strife in schools.

But the Education Ministry says only 4 percent of students nationwide suffered from school violence. A survey conducted by the Education Ministry among 5,000,000 schoolchildren reported that 4 percent experienced property theft, 3 percent coercion and 2.51 percent physical abuse.

Experts say pre-teens can be easily drawn into violent activities because they blindly follow their peers.

Kwak Keumjoo, a psychology professor of Seoul National University, said violent juvenile groups are immersed in social cruelty without even realizing it. "Youngsters are highly affected by their peers. They are not conscious of their wrongdoing because other members also do it," said Kwak, who has studied bullying patterns at school.

An added problem is that school violence is becoming cruel. Referring to Jeong`s disclosures, said counselor Kwon In-cheol, who works for a non-profit "safe school" that provides free counseling to troubled students.

"They (the acts she described) are far more than that. School strife existed in the past, but nowadays students commit violence in mean ways that debase a person`s dignity and inflict incurable damage on the victim."

For example, a 19-year-old girl who identified herself as K terrorized and coerced an unruly group of students at her junior high school. K said school gangsters threatened to kill her if she would not have a "wonjo kyoje" - a relationship in which an older man pays a female school student for sexual favors - and give them the money.

Yonhap reported that seven junior high school gangsters were arrested last month for gang rape of a girl. The report said that they kept abusing the junior high student even after she had fainted due to the severe assault.

The Seoul Metropolitan Education Office said simple assault cases are declining in schools but cruelty in the form of vicious bullying and sexual violence are increasing.

Experts say that society and not juvenile delinquency is to blame since neither schools nor many homes provide the comfort zone that students require.

Professor Lee said many schools fail to provide playgrounds for students where they can relax and have fun.

"Students have a desire to hang out, but schools keep saying to them, `you have to study,`" said Lee. "They call themselves not iljinhoe, but just playing kids."

Schoolteachers also cause problems because they tend mostly to protect culprits. A police officer at Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said, "Schools tend to hide their problems for the fear of their reputation being hurt."

Trying to tackle the problems, retired policemen in Busan, the country`s second largest city, will start working in schools from May in a trial program to crack down on school violence.

"Behind the scenes of school violence, there are single parents or working parents. All problems start in the family," Kwon said.

He said it is not surprising that many children join gangs since parents are not around as much as they are needed, and other adults and neighbors are indifferent to other people`s children and problems.

The 16-year-old gangster said his family did not pay any attention to him. "Right after I came back home, they seemed to take care of me, but it didn`t last long," he recalled. "I feel a lot more comfortable outside of home. I feel insecure at home."

Kwon said the problems would not have become this serious if parents listened to their children. "Some busy and poor parents think all they have to do is to let their kids go to school and then teachers will take care of them. There is no regular session at school where a teacher and parents discuss and share opinions on a student`s school life," he said.

Recently the Education Ministry, police and related authorities came up with a five-year plan to crack down on school violence, including an initial grace period when police offered not to punish bullies who come forward.

Critics say the appeasement policy is unlikely to meet with much success because victims and perpetrators both avoid reporting problems.

"We fear that we will face more taunting. Besides, it hurts our self-esteem," said Kim Min-seok, 17, once a victim of a minor incident of school violence.

Critics say predator students are reluctant to report to police authorities because other members of their circle will immediately know who betrayed them.

One good aspect of the government`s plan is to have more counselors placed in schools and to increase the number of drop-in centers for juveniles. Currently, there are counselors at 49 schools and 166 drop-in and counseling centers nationwide.

"The plan may provide a remedy for the fundamental problem," said counselor Kwon.

Professor Kwak said schoolteachers should be aware of the problems and be willing to fight bullying among students.

"Schools have to make bullying a regular item on staff meeting agendas and institute teacher education," Kwak said. "When teachers are fully conscious of the problems, cases of school violence can be reduced."

She noted that a few years, there was a similar problem which created wide media coverage. "It soon disappeared, and has resurfaced. It is like a vicious cycle," she commented.

(hjjin@heraldm.com)



By Jin Hyun-joo