[Anchor]

Police have launched an investigation into another suspected case of child abuse at a Taekwondo gym. A gym director allegedly held down a young child and forced them into a split, resulting in a broken bone. Critics point out that since this is not the first such incident, stronger measures are needed.

[Reporter Jeong Jiyeon]

On June 18, at a Taekwondo gym in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

The gym director, surnamed A, aggressively grabs a child who is running around and lays them down on a mat.

Director A then grabs both of the child's legs and spreads them apart, applying body weight to press down forcefully.

The child struggles in apparent pain and even signals to stop, but the director does not stop.

The victim, a 7-year-old child, suffered a fractured femur from the incident and is still unable to walk properly two months later.

[Victim's Parent: The emergency room doctor said this: children's bones bend, they do not just snap like this. To break to this extent, child abuse is somewhat suspected.]

Director A reportedly explained to the victim's parents that it was a disciplinary action because the child was not focusing while preparing for a promotion test at the time.

In a phone call with SBS, Director A stated, "I did not force the splits; it happened while trying to grab the student's legs as the student thrashed about during the coaching process."

Prompted by a complaint filed by the child's parents, police have booked Director A on charges of child abuse and initiated an investigation.

[Victim's Parent: When I asked how many times (so far) something like this happened, they said about 11 times. They said they ran away because they were scared of being made to do the splits.]

In 2024, an incident occurred at a Taekwondo gym in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, where a gym director placed a 5-year-old child upside down between mats and left them unattended for 30 minutes, leading to the child's death.

Critics point out that Taekwondo gyms, which are classified as sports facilities, should be subject to the Private Teaching Institutes Act—just like regular cram schools—to enable active measures against child abuse.

[Cho Kihyun / Child Abuse Attorney: There is no direct legal ground to forcibly close down a gym or suspend its operations based solely on the act of child abuse itself. There isn't.]

As Taekwondo gyms are widely utilized facilities to fill childcare gaps after school, concrete complementary measures appear necessary to protect children.

(Photo courtesy of Yonhap News)

Reported by Yang Jihoon | Video by Shin Seeun | Graphics by Kim Yeji