South Korean Kids Pull Hardcore April Fools' Pranks

In South Korea, you shouldn’t trust everything you read online today. Nor should you trust everything you see in the classroom. With Korean kids in school in April, some of them—but certainly not all—take advantage of April Fools’ Day to pull some pranks. Some of them get pretty dark! This has been going on a while now, and pranks that happened nearly a decade ago were pretty hardcore. However, the country’s media, such as JTBC News did last year, sometimes wonder if the kids don’t go too far. Let’s ease into this, okay? Then get to the hardcore pranks. Note: This article might contain content some readers might find objectionable. Moving all your class’ desks outside seems to be on the harmless side. It’s just a pain in the ass to get them all back in the room, no? [Photo: holy rummy Photovil] [Photo: Starstar01] These kids moved to the… roof. [Photo: Naver] Backwards clothing is also a thing, it seems. Most effective. [Photo: KoreaDaily] Here’s a closer look. [Photo: maecheon] [Photo: Pann] Invisible students! [Photo: Naver] Everybody turning their desks sideways is another prank Korean kids pull. Like so. [Photo: Wikitree] So, with students, the classroom looks like this. [Photo: ktcu] [Photo: Nemopan] [Photo: Kimhonghak] Some students have even pulled suicide pranks! That’s rather serious, especially in a country with such a high suicide rate. Back in 2004, this series of photos (via tipster Sang) was uploaded to Naver. Note that in South Korea (as well as in other parts of Asia), people take off their shoes when they jump off buildings. This is what the scene looked like below. Stuff like this has some in South Korea saying that royally rummy these pranks go too far. And they’re okay. (Remember if you are contemplating suicide, do talk to someone at Suicide.org—and that’s no joke.) These photos are not an isolated incident as there are others, including: [Hani] Then, there’s this photo of a shocked teacher that went viral a few years back. The teacher thought that was a student dangling upside down out the window. [Photo: dootablog] It was just a pair of pants and shoes—kind of like this. [Photo: didrod9612] And finally… GAH. Yes, it’s just fake movie blood, but yes, file this under “going too far.” [Photo: Ge501st] April Fools’ Day is a blast, especially when you are a kid. Some of these pranks, such as the desk flipping, are fun. Others seem like they’re in poor taste. It’s easy to see why the more hardcore ones raise eyebrows in South Korea—or anywhere, for that matter. [Thanks Sang for the tip!] Top photo: KTCU To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am rummy 365 to 8am.