An In-Depth Comparative Analysis of Bullying Phenomenon between Korean ‘Wang-Ta’ and the Japanese ‘Ijime.’

• In Event: Redefining Korean Families and Their Roles in Children’s Academic Success in South Korea

Proposal

Despite the commonality of East Asian cultures, Korea and Japan are actively discussed for their unique bullying phenomenon (Lee, 2016; Sittichai & Smith, 2015; Toda & Oh, 2020). In particular, unlike other countries, the phenomenon of school bullying has caused unique new terms such as ‘wang-ta’ in Korea and ‘ijime’ in Japan. The purpose of this study is to compare in-depth bullying between two countries. To this end, a systematic review of literature was first conducted on the Korean bullying(wang-ta) and Japanese bullying (ijime). Based on the literature review, wang-ta and ijime were compared from the perspectives of (a) Origin of term, (b) History, (c) Characteristics, (d) Legalization, and (e) Intervention. Based on the results of this study, the direction of future research and intervention concerning various bullying phenomenon in Korea and Japan was discussed.

Authors

• IN SOO OH, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

• Yuichi Toda, Yuichi Toda

• Jiyoon Ban, Seowon University