"The Fleeing Child 'Endured It 11 Times'"... Doctor "Shocked," But Still Can't Shut It Down

00:00 Intro
00:14 "I Thought It Was a Mistake"... Captured on CCTV
01:38 Fleeing Child Says "It Happened 11 Times"
02:30 Children Go There, But It Was Not an "Academy"

A child has been injured at a Taekwondo gym once again. After a so-called forced splits maneuver, a 7-year-old child's femur was fractured. The child's parents, who initially thought it was a mistake, say they were shocked after reviewing the CCTV footage closely.

1. "I Thought It Was a Mistake"... Captured on CCTV
This is the CCTV footage from the time of the incident secured by SBS. The instructor grabs a running child at the Taekwondo gym as if snatching them. He lays the child down on a mat, grabs their legs, and forces them wide apart. Then, he presses down with force from above. The child struggles and signals for him to stop. However, he did not stop. As a result, the child's femur was fractured. The femur is one of the thickest and strongest bones in the human body.

[Parent of the Victim: When the emergency room doctor saw this photo, they said that among human bones, a child's femur is the thickest, and a child's bone bends rather than snapping like this. They said that because tremendous force must have been applied, this is somewhat suspicious of child abuse.]

The child's parents looked back at the accident. Because the CCTV footage they saw immediately after the accident had a small screen and was short, they visited the Taekwondo gym again. That is when the scene of the forced splits in the video caught their eye.

[Parent of the Victim: At first, I thought it was a mistake. When I zoomed in and took a closer look, that video showed the splits being forced. I was a bit shocked at that moment and said things like, 'They forced the splits, they forced the splits...']

Two months have passed, and the child is still unable to walk properly. At 7 years of age by international standards, the face of the child I met was bright, but their legs continued to limp.

2. Fleeing Child "Endured It 11 Times"
The instructor claims that he did not force the splits. He asserts that during the teaching process, the child flailed, and the accident occurred while he was grabbing the child's legs. Looking at the footage from that time, the child keeps running around inside the gym, avoiding the instructor. After running away several times, the child is caught by the instructor, leading to the scene where his legs are forced wide apart while lying down.

[Parent of the Victim: I asked them again later. Have you split [their legs] before? They said they had them split as a punishment. When I asked how many times, they said it happened about 11 times.]

This was the reason the child kept running around inside the gym to avoid him.

[Parent of the Victim: They said they ran away because they were scared of having their legs split.]

However, after being discharged from the hospital and returning to school, the child reportedly heard friends say, "Your leg broke because you did something wrong." Eventually, the parents filed a complaint with the police, and the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency is currently investigating the Taekwondo instructor on charges of child abuse.

3. Children Go There, But It Was Not an "Academy"
This brings up a question. Who is managing Taekwondo gyms, where many young children go? It is a space where children flock after school and learn sports. Because of this, people commonly think of Taekwondo gyms as private academies. However, unlike regular cram schools and other private academies subject to the guidance and supervision of the superintendent of education under the Private Teaching Institutes Act, Taekwondo gyms are governed by the Act on the Establishment and Maintenance of Sports Facilities. They are managed by local governments, not offices of education. Even though it is a space used by children, it falls under a completely different administrative system.

[Cho Gihyun / Child Abuse Prevention Lawyer: The biggest problem is that when child abuse occurs, regular private academies can face administrative actions from the office of education, such as registration cancellation, closure, or suspension of operations. However, for Taekwondo gyms, there is no direct legal basis to forcibly close or suspend the operations of the gym based solely on the act of child abuse itself. There is none.]

Of course, this does not mean that Taekwondo gyms are completely free from regulation. Administrative measures under the Sports Facilities Act are still possible. However, the problem is how strictly they are managed for children's safety.

[Cho Gihyun / Child Abuse Prevention Lawyer: In reality, city, county, and district offices do not provide proper management and supervision like offices of education do. Daycare centers are under the jurisdiction of child-related departments within city, county, and district offices. But when city, county, and district offices manage Taekwondo gyms, they are managed by the sports division within the office...]

Two months later, the child still uses a wheelchair. Taekwondo gyms are places where many children spend their time after school. They are also places where parents entrust their children with peace of mind. Then, are the standards for protecting children sufficient compared to the teaching they receive? This incident makes us look back at those standards.

(Reported by Jeong Jiyeon | Produced by Shin Hee-suk | Video by Kim Sang-yun | Video Editing by Jang Yu-jin | Design by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.