While the recent release of a video showing a student being assaulted by his classmates has raised social awareness of the problems of ?angdda (short for ?ang dda dollinda, which means to greatly ostracize), local insurance companies have taken the event as an opportunity to create a new form of insurance: ?angdda insurance.
Major insurance companies including Samsung, Hyundai, Ssangyoung, Jeil, LG and Dong Yang have all packaged this form of insurance to compensate parents and children for the effects of being bullied or ostracized in school. A typical insurance policy compensates, 85 percent of all injuries for policy holders whether they be from mental or physical harm. The insurance covers partial health care expenses, vaccinations, and clinic treatment as well as paying a bonus fees for mental and emotional distress. In addition to this, if there is any parential loss of work hours or after effects of the bullying, the policies support 50 percent life support. In the case of Samsung? ?ove My Child insurance, age limits begin at age 5 and may be extended to age 23, regardless of the time of the subscription.
The number of subscribers to this ?angdda insurance has grown steadily since 2001, when most companies began to adopt this form of insurance. The number of subscribers is said to have doubled.
Surprisingly, this insurance boom is not only restricted to high school students. According to recent Internet news broadcasts, the parents of a freshman at Chunjoo University were compensated by their insurance policy after their son drowned to death after drinking a bottle of soju with his group of friends from school. Police first concluded Kim? death was a mere accident, however, suspicions that it might be murder led to an in-depth case investigation, after it was found that Kim had been a member of Samsung Life Insurance Company? wangdda insurance.
In another case, a 13 year-old female middle school student in Incheon who was undergoing stress from being the wangdda in her class was rewarded 1,600,000 won for treatment fees as indemnity by her insurance company.
An insurance related official states, ?veryday, appliants for wangdda insurance are increasing. Parents are under the obligation to wonder ?hat if my child becomes wangdda, and are forced to sign up just in case. Experts analyze this increase as clear proof, which speaks for the serious social impact of the wangdda issue.
claudia@ewha.ac.kr
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