hankyoreh

"Male students were wearing only their underwear and female students took off their coats. New students of the Department of Sports Science sang a song almost naked in front of other students at the main gate of the school," said a student of Chonbuk National University.

"We all felt like we were being made fun of by other students, but we could not object. If we resisted, we would face punishment from our upperclassmen in the same major."

Another new student in the College of Physical Education of Seoul’s Kyung Hee University said that he and his classmates had to sing without stopping while on a long bus ride - albeit clothed - on the way to new student orientation. "In the middle of the night on the second day of orientation, some upperclassmen woke us up and forced us to keep rapidly standing and squatting without stopping as a kind of disciplinary measure," he added.

These students were made to endure embarrassing or uncomfortable situations merely because of being the new kids on the block.

A year has passed since The Hankyoreh reported about this type of violence in Physical Education departments at universities under the headline, "Colleges of Physical Education are still like barracks." However, the situation does not seem to have changed. New students tell of hazings normally uncovered at military recruit training centers.

A Hankyoreh reporter called a professor of the Department of Sports Science at Chonbuk National University on March 6 to talk about the incident. After the call, underclassmen were reportedly beaten by their upperclassmen, most likely retailation for having "spoken out" to the media.

But the punishment was not only limited to sporadic acts of violence. On the morning of the same day, students of the Sports Science and Physical Education departments were gathered at the gymnasium of the university. For over two hours, the older students forced the others to ceaselessly perform grueling exercises such as squats and bending over from a standing position until the head hits the floor. Seniors forced their underclassmen to perform these exercises, then juniors did so to sophomores and freshmen. Finally, sophomores forced freshmen to do so. A student stood guard at the gymnasium’s gate in order to keep others from seeing the acts.

New students of Kyung Hee University’s College of Physical Education held their orientation at a juvenile training center in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, on February 23-26. On the third day of orientation, the parking lot resounded with loud singing, as the new students were forced to perform songs without stopping. At the start of lunch, they were also made to sing in front of older members of their college.

Later on the same day, the new students were forced to take part in a program designed to maintain "military-style discipline." The program included jumping jacks, sprints, and push-ups, among other strenuous physical activities. A few students were stationed at the entrance of the training center to prevent photos of the incident from being taken.

Yun Woo-sang, the dean of the Physical Education College whom the reporter met at the training center, said that there was nothing wrong with the orientation training regimen. He evaluated the orientation as successful, saying, "As long as I am the dean of the college, the orientation will continue as it is."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]