Far-right groups protest against schools for watching “12.12 : The Day”

Members of a conservative group protest in front of Sangam Middle School in Mapo-gu, Seoul, where a group was scheduled to watch the movie \

"We condemn the middle school that mobilizes students to watch ‘12.12 : The Day’ that distorts history."

In front of the main gate of Sangam Middle School in Mapo-gu, Seoul on December 13, Park, a 14-year-old student was watching people hanging a red banner on trees in front of the school.

Park, along with about 10 of his classmates, looked at the banner and a black van with a loudspeaker parked in front of the school.

"I'm worried about the future of the country as people protest over such thing," he said. "This protest made me want to go see the film later."

On the same day, 15 members of far-right organizations, including the civic group Freedom Korea National Defense Corps and the YouTube channel Hoverlab, staged an hour-long protest rally in front of the middle school and live-streamed it online, criticizing “12.12 : The Day” as a left-leaning movie. “12.12 : The Day” was one of the films that the school prepared for the students’ field trip to a theater earlier in the day.

Far-right groups are filing complaints against schools which are planning to watch the film with the students, sparking growing criticism among teachers and students that the groups are violating their rights to teach and learn. Last week, Hoverlab shared home letters of some elementary and middle schools on its YouTube channel, encouraging its viewers to make protest calls.

A teacher working at a middle school in Seoul said, "The situation in which groups outside school intervene in the curriculum and academic schedules that have been legally decided after collecting opinions from school members in the form of civil complaints shows that the authority of schools and teachers has fallen to the bottom." He also pointed out, "The expressions ‘the mobilization of students' and 'forced watching’ are not true but a malicious slander and a clear infringement of teachers' rights hindering teachers’ legitimate educational activities.”

Before watching the film, a student of the middle school said, "It seems that the protest is rather trying to control students.” She added, "We can judge whether the dramatic scenes in the film are true or not."

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.