An elementary school teacher who graduated from Seoul National University of Education stands accused of making sexually oriented comments concerning a female student via a mobile messenger chat room.

The group chat room, with several male students and graduates of the school’s Korean-language education department, had come under fire Tuesday after the department’s gender equality committee disclosed messages on the campus and via social media.

According to the revealed portions of the chat log, one of the male graduates working as a teacher made comments holding sexual implications of a 10-year-old female student regarding her appearance.

Some of the chat room members are implicated in sharing sexually harassing remarks about fellow female students, even making booklets judging the appearances of female freshmen. According to the committee, evidence of students allegedly trying to cover up their past acts had been discovered.

On Thursday, more than 500 of the school’s students gathered on campus in protest and to call for further investigation. The school has conducted an internal examination of enrolled students and was slated to make disciplinary decisions Friday. Students have also demanded further investigation into and punishment for the graduates currently working as teachers.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)