In a surprising turn of events that reads right out of a Korean action movie… one of Korea’s top SAT instructors reports that he was kidnapped and beaten before he was able to escape to the United States.
Jeffrey Sohn, 38, a well-known SAT Writing instructor drew a salary of 1 billion won per year (almost 1 million US dollars) to teach at the highly-regarded Recas Institute. But according to the Joong Ang Daily, Sohn was kidnapped, taken to a house in the outskirts of Seoul and then beaten.
Why? Did he get an answer wrong on the practice exams? (It’s what probably happens to most of his students at home.) No, his contract was almost finished and his bosses founded out that he was thinking of taking a better offer elsewhere. Better than a million a year teaching SATs? Wow! In the cut-throat atmosphere of education preparation, it’s big money. And often these hagwons are operated in some dirty, sleazy ways. But this is unbelievable!
The president of Recas has been barred traveling out of the country and the police are currently investigating the company. We hope that Jeffrey is safe and recovering well in the states. Apparently he has some leverage in that he has proof that the owners of the school were engaged in cheating scandals with the SAT test.
The Seoulite personally knows people who have worked at Recas and other academies. The atmosphere does have its share of bullying and strong-arm tactics. Of course this environment exists everywhere and in every country. Humans are just cruel creatures… the smart-stupid ones that is. But he takes STRONG offense when the targets of this manipulation are teachers. People with a teacher’s heart usually bear the brunt of mismanagement, office politics and general incompetence because they have a commitment to their students.
It’s the teachers who have to put on a smile and grind through… making up for every other deficit in a school’s management in order to prepare our next generation. Too bad it had to come to this extreme level of gross indecency. I hope this case will blow up those who are destroying the nation’s educational advancement and reputation. It’s time for reforms.
And really, the mothers have a large role in this. They have to stop throwing money at people who are willing to cheat on their children’s behalf. Their children should be groomed into future leaders. Not over-priced followers.
* Photo above used for illustrative purposes.
