SEOUL — A concerning new trend of school violence known as the "Yacha Rule"—where students pre-arrange fights, establish rules, and often record and share the acts—is spreading rapidly across South Korea, with cases more than doubling over a two-year period.

According to data released on the 2nd by Representative Jung Sung-kook of the ruling People Power Party, who obtained the figures from the Ministry of Education, school violence deliberation cases related to the "Yacha Rule" and similar novel practices surged from 107 in the 2024 academic year to 223 last year, representing a more than twofold increase.

The "Yacha Rule" typically involves students agreeing in advance to a fight, setting specific rules, filming and sharing the outcome, and mutually agreeing not to report or press charges against one another. The Ministry of Education tracked these cases separately by filtering for related keywords within official school violence deliberation raw data.

Alarming Surge in 2026 and Middle School Concentration

For the current year, 160 cases were deliberated during the six-month period from March to August alone. This accounts for 71.7% of the total 223 cases recorded throughout the entirety of last year. Official figures show that these recent cases involved 243 victims and 420 perpetrators.

The phenomenon is heavily concentrated in middle schools. Of the 160 cases deliberated this year, 106 (66.3%) occurred in middle schools, compared to 37 in high schools and 17 in elementary schools.

Middle school students also made up the vast majority of those affected:

-Victims: 173 middle schoolers (71.2% of the total 243)
-Perpetrators: 318 middle schoolers (75.7% of the total 420)
By comparison, high schools recorded 50 victims and 74 perpetrators, while elementary schools saw 20 victims and 28 perpetrators.

This heavy concentration in middle schools is a consistent pattern. In the 2024 academic year, middle schools accounted for 57 out of 107 total cases, and 127 out of 223 cases last year. The number of middle school perpetrators grew steadily from 130 in 2024 to 303 last year.

Regional Distribution and Complex Violence Types

Geographically, out of a cumulative 490 cases recorded from 2024 through August of this year, Gyeonggi Province reported the highest number with 74 cases, followed by Gyeongnam (61), Gwangju (55), Busan (48), Gangwon (40), and Seoul (31). Chungbuk (28), Incheon (26), Daegu (25), Gyeongbk (24), and Chungnam (23) also reported cases, showing that the issue spans across nearly the entire country. For this year alone, Gyeonggi led with 31 cases, followed by Gyeongnam (19) and Gwangju (17).

The violence involved multiple concurrent infractions. Based on overlapping data tabulations:

-Physical Violence: Rose from 96 cases in 2024 to 200 last year, with an additional 139 cases recorded by August of this year (a cumulative 435 cases over the period).
-Other Infractions: Over the same timeframe, authorities logged 209 cases of verbal abuse, 141 cases of coercion, 91 cases of cyberbullying, 48 cases of extortion, 25 cases of sexual violence, and 13 cases of ostracism.

Experts note that these incidents go beyond simple physical brawls, frequently involving coercion to fight, digital recording, and online distribution of the footage.

Calls for Comprehensive Countermeasures

"The fact that students pre-arrange a fight and agree 'not to sue each other' does not erase their legal and moral responsibility for the violence," Rep. Jung emphasized. "We must closely examine the actions of all students involved in the violence, including those who coerce, instigate, film, or distribute these fights."

Jung urged authorities to move beyond simply punishing offenders: "The educational authorities, police, and platform corporations must cooperate to swiftly establish a comprehensive response system. This must include immediate deletion of victimized footage, blocking re-distribution, and closely monitoring for retaliatory secondary victimization."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]