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Student suspected of hammer attack at university cites 'bullying'

29 Comments

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29 Comments
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Bullying is out of control in countries like Japan, Korea and even USA.

The majority of gun shootings in US overwhelmly have this as the main reason.

In Japan, sadly, students use whatever blunt objects they can find during their moment of insanity due to of too much bullying pressure building up.

This is indeed very sad news, and unless we know the true and exact reasons, their is no point of putting blames on either side.

However the bullying problem still remains in Japan, and it is almost always put under the rugg, too easily dismissed.

-16 ( +21 / -37 )

Koreans are generally looked down on in Japan so there might be some truth inthestudent’s allegations.

However, a hammer attack seems to be a last resort.

-21 ( +18 / -39 )

She attacked students she wasn’t acquainted with, instead of the ones who allegedly bullied her and made her feel “belittled.” It’s not clear yet whether she had really been subjected to bullying but even so it doesn’t justify a hammer attack. Playing victim as an excuse is part of the Korean national character.

-13 ( +14 / -27 )

Among the eight injured were individuals unacquainted with the assailant...

I think we can safely put some of the blame on the accused in this instance.

23 ( +29 / -6 )

Bullying (if true) can help explain the attack, but not justify it, that is a very important difference. There are countless foreign students in Japan that are subjected to mistreatment, or that feel ostracized and attacked because of cultural differences, yet they don't choose to act violently because of it.

22 ( +27 / -5 )

attended by about 150 people.

one part of the problem

2 ( +10 / -8 )

She attacked students she wasn’t acquainted with, instead of the ones who allegedly bullied her and made her feel “belittled.” It’s not clear yet whether she had really been subjected to bullying but even so it doesn’t justify a hammer attack. Playing victim as an excuse is part of the Korean national character.

Totally agree..

-10 ( +6 / -16 )

This will not bide well for the already fractious Japan-South Korean relationship. Sounds like the young lass just popped.

Perhaps she was struggling to navigate a culture that can be known for being sometimes cold and distant , especially to foreign exchange students who come over here hoping to meet and mingle. They’re not shown outright aggression or distain from the local students, it’s more of an indifference coupled with an unwillingness to engage. I work at a private university and getting the exchange students mixing with the Japanese students better has always been a bit of a mission for some strange reason.

It’s a pity because you can learn a lot through making mates with people from different countries and cultures and young people are the ones that should be good at it. I lay some of the blame on an unimaginative and outdated education system, one that doesn’t foster the sense of curiosity needed to want to ask questions and learn what life is like in planet gaikoku! All it takes is one kind student in a class to take note and have a chat with someone that looks lonely. Just one.

I think you’ll find in most unis exchange students end up hanging out and pretty much sticking together. I wonder if this Korean student didn’t even have that?

2 ( +14 / -12 )

So what was the bullying, they looked at her in an unpleasant way and she decided it was too much for her to bear?

-3 ( +8 / -11 )

Among the eight injured were individuals unacquainted with the assailant

She's the bully

-3 ( +12 / -15 )

Earlier in the day, she found a hammer in another classroom and concealed it in her coat pocket.

"I thought that the only way to stop the bullying, the only solution, was to attack the students who were in the same class."

Clearly a premeditated attack which will not help her when being sentenced. I think she will complete her education from the comfort of a Japanese jail cell in a place where she is guaranteed to be "bullied" further.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

I’m so glad the Korean student didn’t choose to take her own life in response to the bullying.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Those comments on the "Korean character " seem ill advised and reinforce the notion that Koreans ARE looked down on in Japan.

9 ( +19 / -10 )

Ricky above...good observations ...but I down voted you because...well....you know.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

No excuse for this demonic behaviour whether bullied or not unless the perpetrator is found to be suffering from a severe mental illness.

-5 ( +6 / -11 )

She attacked students she wasn’t acquainted with, instead of the ones who allegedly bullied her and made her feel “belittled.”

Those she wasn't acquainted with were "among" those she attacked, which means that so were those who she was acquainted with.

 It's pretty safe to say that she wasn't acting completely rationally or logically at the point of the attack. And many victims of mass public attacks like mass shootings, stabbings, vehicle, arson etc weren't personally acquainted with the attacker, and hadn't directly wronged them. Wrong place, wrong time.

Also, we weren't there. Did they try to intervene? Get caught by a backswing? It's all conjecture at this point.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Of COURSE she did.

-8 ( +0 / -8 )

Violence is never the answer, but I can imagine how life changing this will be for the bullies.

Moreover, bullying in college? Did they not grow up?

14 ( +15 / -1 )

I don't know what this student went through, but I think there are many people who can't handle difficult coworkers and colleagues. In my workplace, I have two female Japanese subordinates in their thirties who use terms like "power harassment" and make complaints about their sixty-year old Japanese coworker who has a sharp tongue and scolds them for their lack of effort or lack of dedication. Being told off is just a fact of life in the workplace, and probably in college too. People need to grow up and become mentally resilient and emotionally stronger.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

So this Korean student felt she was 'being bullied' and her solution was to grab a hammer in a class of 150 students, most of whom wouldn't know her, and attack 8 students. Some of the victims didn't know her.

I've never heard of a Korean student doing this kind of thing in Japan and the focus needs to be on what a disturbed individual Yoo Ju Hyun is. All we have are her allegations of bullying by Japanese students but her reaction is not something that a person with normal thought processes would do. Looks like another case of mental illness being excused.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

"I thought that the only way to stop the bullying, the only solution, was to attack the students who were in the same class."

Ummm... failed to see the irony, I guess. In cany case, if there's a silver lining to this case it's that because she South Korean we know she'll actually be punished.

-11 ( +1 / -12 )

I’m so glad the Korean student didn’t choose to take her own life in response to the bullying.

Instead, she decided it was better to try killing people indiscriminately, in response the the alleged bullying.

6 ( +10 / -4 )

Not sure about the bullying she endured, but she really flipped out.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@Garthgoyle she didn't kill people indiscriminately. It was a counterattack on her abusers. You are not a mind reader, so you have no idea if she intended to kill anybody.

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

she didn't kill people indiscriminately. It was a counterattack on her abusers.

"Those she wasn't acquainted with were "among" those she attacked"

1 ( +2 / -1 )

because she South Korean we know she'll actually be punished.

By being deported most likely

0 ( +1 / -1 )

BlacksamuraiJan. 12 02:43 pm JST

I've never heard of a Korean student doing this kind of thing in Japan and the focus needs to be on what a disturbed individual Yoo Ju Hyun is. 

Me too, I consider this incident as an exceptional case, there are many Koreans and other foreigners living in all Japan.

Might be some Japanese outsiders do not like Koreans and showing up with derogatory comments - but a friendly communicative 22-year-old female Korean student living near Tokyo can find easily many friends for sure, females and males, Japanese and foreigners, in her neighbourhood.

I think, the best is to talk with these students who were attacked by her - they were not seriously injured - and ask them to remain calm about this incident and to send this disturbed Korean female quickly back to South Korea.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Batchiri

No need to be a mind reader, as you put it. Hitting someone on the back of the head strong enough with a hammer is enough to kill a person or seriously injure them. Any adult knows this.

A counter attack on her abusers? You should read the article.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I wonder if Japanese students go through the same kind of bullying if they study in South Korea or China.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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