South Korea’s most famous math tutor has ignited a fierce national debate after calling the country’s toddler cram-school culture “child abuse,” saying children as young as three and four are being pushed into medical-school prep classes.
Jung Seung-je made the remarks in a video posted on November 4 to the YouTube channel Chimchakman, titled “Korean vs. English vs. Math — Which Matters Most?” He appeared alongside fellow instructors from Channel A’s education reality show “Teachers 3: The Retake War” — Korean tutor Yoo Dae-jong and English tutor Kim Ji-young.
“Especially in math, kids enter medical school prep classes from age three or four,” Jung said. “It’s a completely crazy country.” Yoo Dae-jong reacted with disbelief: “Starting at four? At four, you can’t even remember anything.” Jung pressed on: “I really don’t understand why the state doesn’t crack down on this. It should be arrested and punished as child abuse. It’s really too much.” Yoo agreed, saying, “That is child abuse.” Jung added that he wanted to use the program to show the current climate is wrong, not something to accept.
The clip quickly spread, and viewers split sharply. Critics turned on Jung himself, pointing out that he makes his living from the same private-education industry. “You’re a private tutor yourself, talking like some champion of justice,” one commenter wrote. Supporters agreed with him, saying forcing exam prep on three- and four-year-olds is plainly child abuse. One widely shared reply noted the irony: without this “crazy country,” there would be no star lecturers — or their fame — at all.
The row taps into a long-running sore point in South Korean education. In wealthy academy districts such as Daechi-dong in Seoul, so-called “age-four and age-seven exams” — level tests used to sort toddlers into classes — have drawn years of criticism. The government moved to curb the practice, banning level tests for young children seeking academy admission from October 1 under a revised enforcement decree.
Jung, born in 1976, is one of South Korea’s best-known star lecturers, with more than 10 million cumulative students, according to TenAsia. He currently appears on “Teachers 3: The Retake War,” which airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on Channel A. The debate shows no sign of cooling, with the clip continuing to circulate online.
