Read on TwitterThere’s an issue with a school that many Korean artists have attended, such as Jungkook (BTS), Kai (EXO) and Hyunjin (SKZ) called SOPA, or School Of Performing Arts Seoul. Many problems and questions have surfaced after students released this video +
https://youtu.be/l_uzzNPnCXQ
In">https://youtu.be/l_uzzNPnC... this video, a group of students bring to light several problems within the school. The video became quite popular, and even inspired a police investigation against multiple school faculty, particularly the principal, head of administration (his wife), +
In">https://youtu.be/l_uzzNPnC... this video, a group of students bring to light several problems within the school. The video became quite popular, and even inspired a police investigation against multiple school faculty, particularly the principal, head of administration (his wife), +
and his son, who also works in the school. The principal under investigation has had his job for over 10 years, so this is nothing new to students. However, it’s new to the public, and has shocked several people due to SOPA’s previously good reputation. +
The school silenced students by threatening them with lawsuits for “defacing” the school, slander, and with threats of punishments executed by the school’s disciplinary committee. Any posts on social media students made to expose the school were quickly taken down when teachers +
reminded students that they could be sued. I assume any graduates who have become idols haven’t said anything because any sort of drama could damage their career or credibility.
Allow me to address the actual issues pertaining to the school’s administration. +
Allow me to address the actual issues pertaining to the school’s administration. +
As I said before, the video released by SOPA students began an investigation against the school. An office of education performed an inspection and came back with 18 notable issues. The first I will touch on is this:
The principal and head of administration (a married couple) +
The principal and head of administration (a married couple) +
held at least 10 private events at which they required students to perform at. At some events, alcohol was served, and sometimes the principal and head of administration collected money from people who paid to see students perform. Students were not informed of this and the +
funds were deposited into the head of administration’s private bank account. Students were also not told the details of these events; only given a time and location, they were required to show up. A radio interview with a student revealed that school staff selected several +
female students to perform at a military base, once again a private event unrelated to school activities. After the performance, students were told to shake hands with the soldiers and hug them. These students were dressed in “skimpy” outfits while doing so and some soldiers +
tried to touch the girls’ legs. All school staff present made no effort to intervene or prevent such actions. Another example of one of these private events was a party held by the head of administration for insurance salesmen, where alcohol was served. Students were still made *
to perform at the event.
Another one of the major problems discovered in the inspection was that the school had received government funds. They tracked how this money was spent and found that a staff member (Idk which one) used the school’s private vehicle for personal reasons +
Another one of the major problems discovered in the inspection was that the school had received government funds. They tracked how this money was spent and found that a staff member (Idk which one) used the school’s private vehicle for personal reasons +
and used some of that money from the government to pay for the gas. The principal also used some of the government funds given to the school to pay his personal cell phone bill. He and his family even illegally renovated an entire floor of offices into their personal home, +
meaning they now use a complete floor of SOPA’s building as their primary residence where they live full-time. They did this with the school’s money.
To clarify, the principal does not have the authority to renovate school property. That’s up to a board of directors and the +
To clarify, the principal does not have the authority to renovate school property. That’s up to a board of directors and the +
chairman. So, the investigators went through the board of directors’ meeting records and concluded that they must have been tampered with. Investigators also learned that the chairman is about 100 years old, and the principal (along with other staff) claims that this chairman +
has Alzheimer’s. At first, no one could locate this chairman, so the investigators filed a missing person’s report with the police.
I know this sounds crazy and all over the place, but all information has been sourced from reliable news reports, and the office of education. +
I know this sounds crazy and all over the place, but all information has been sourced from reliable news reports, and the office of education. +
Police found the 100 yo chairman in a nursing home, which the principal had moved him to. Why the principal did not tell this to the police has not been confirmed. When the police located the chairmen, the principal’s son immediately had him moved to another location, which is +
currently unknown. In other words, the principal’s son, who works at SOPA, is actively hiding the chairman from the authorities, who once again have no idea where this chairman is.
Believe it or not, there’s more. Remember, the office of education which conducted the initial +
Believe it or not, there’s more. Remember, the office of education which conducted the initial +
inspection of SOPA, uncovered “18 notable issues.”
One thing students noted in the video they released was an event in Japan. The host of the event paid the school 10,000 USD to provide travel accommodations for students to fly from Korea to Japan, where they would perform. +
One thing students noted in the video they released was an event in Japan. The host of the event paid the school 10,000 USD to provide travel accommodations for students to fly from Korea to Japan, where they would perform. +
The school administration kept that money and forced the students to pay for their own plane tickets. This event was mandatory for students to attend, as well.
In 2018, SOPA hired 4 staff members. The first, was the principal and head of administration’s son. The other 3 were +
In 2018, SOPA hired 4 staff members. The first, was the principal and head of administration’s son. The other 3 were +
known close associates of the principal’s family. Let me just emphasize something.
The principal is married to the head of administration, who manages all school funds, much of which have ended up in her personal bank account. They also hired their own son and close family +
The principal is married to the head of administration, who manages all school funds, much of which have ended up in her personal bank account. They also hired their own son and close family +
associates. Application forms for those positions were all shredded. Students claim this was done to hide information, but faculty denied this, arguing that the documents were destroyed because they held people’s personal information, which they likely did. +
The principal and head of administration have been dismissed from their positions. The students are already seeing change for the better within the school. A lot of facilities were in disrepair, ceilings leaking bunches of water, etc. As an art school, there are recording rooms +
as well as practice rooms for dance, but the soundproofing were in very bad condition and not working the way they should. For the kind of budget SOPA has, that’s unacceptable. The attendance fee at SOPA is 10,000 USD per student for one year alone. After the investigators went +
through, the school put in new, better-quality soundproof material.
Within the Korean education system, this type of situation is not uncommon, especially in private schools such as SOPA. It also happens in universities. Students will be required to share low-quality equipment +
Within the Korean education system, this type of situation is not uncommon, especially in private schools such as SOPA. It also happens in universities. Students will be required to share low-quality equipment +
and very small amounts of that equipment. It’s not fair to the students or their families who have paid copious sums of money to attend these schools, to not take that money from them, and use it for the staff’s personal gain instead of focusing on upgrading their workspace. +
SOPA is not the only school like this. Colleges use pirated software systems, outdated versions of Windows and broken equipment.
In Korean private schools there isn’t any limit on how long the staff can work there, so they’re being managed by people who’ve created a system +
In Korean private schools there isn’t any limit on how long the staff can work there, so they’re being managed by people who’ve created a system +
that allows them to get away with cheating students out of their money, forcing them to work overnight and exploiting them for personal gain.
Most of the tweets addressing this topic are in Korean, so I went on YouTube and found a video that’s in English:
https://youtu.be/njGQv9D9_NU ">https://youtu.be/njGQv9D9_...
Most of the tweets addressing this topic are in Korean, so I went on YouTube and found a video that’s in English:
https://youtu.be/njGQv9D9_NU ">https://youtu.be/njGQv9D9_...
