The school’s removal of flowers laid by citizens in memory of Kim Sang-yeon (18), who died after suffering from bullying, has sparked outrage among the parent community.
Although the school explained that they “threw먹튀검증 them away without realizing it,” there are criticisms that the school was in a hurry to cover up the incident by removing the chrysanthemum flowers, which were placed without a separate memorial space.
On the morning of the 30th, an online community posted posts and photos saying, “That’s where it is,” and “I called the school because I was angry when I saw the memorial flower trash can.
“The chrysanthemum flowers placed in front of the school’s security office to commemorate Kim have disappeared,” the post reads, and a photo shows a bouquet of flowers in a box alongside trash bags.
One netizen wrote, “The discarded flowers were placed in memory of Kim yesterday with my children and were intact, with nothing rotten,” and questioned, “Why did you take them away to dispose of them?”
Netizens were outraged, commenting, “How can this happen when it’s Kim’s birthday,” “The school is just trying to cover up,” “It’s raining and I put an umbrella on the chrysanthemums, but it looks like they threw them away,” and “Set up an incense station.”
Citizens in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, bring chrysanthemum flowers in front of the security office of Kim’s alma mater to commemorate the late Kim Sang-yeon, 18, who died after complaining of school violence. Yonhap
After netizens called the school to complain, the school said that “the security guard didn’t realize it and threw it away,” adding that “it has now been restored.”
An official from the Cheonan Education Support Agency said, “The school guard who came to work that day saw the flowers near the guardhouse and thought they were garbage and threw them away.” “The school held a mourning ceremony on the morning of Kim’s death and postponed the school schedule,” the official added.
Kim died at his home in Cheonan’s Southeast District on Nov. 11, leaving behind a three-year history of verbal abuse and bullying in his suicide note and notebook. His parents have filed a police complaint against seven students and a third-grade homeroom teacher named in the notebook as perpetrators of bullying, and the investigation is ongoing.