Cover ‘Teach You a Lesson’ follows the Educational Rights Protection Bureau, a fictional government task force that uses unconventional methods to restore order in South Korea's broken school system (Photo: Netflix)
‘Teach You a Lesson’ follows the Educational Rights Protection Bureau, a fictional government task force that uses unconventional methods to restore order in South Korea's broken school system (Photo: Netflix)
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A fake government task force that beats up bad students. Physics-defying fight scenes. Genuine tears. ‘Teach You a Lesson’ shouldn’t work, but it does.
Let me address the elephant in the classroom first: the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB) does not exist. A government task force authorised to administer physical beatings in schools is pure fiction. And yet, having devoured all ten episodes in two sittings, I still found myself checking the South Korean National Assembly’s website. Just in case.
Premiering June 5 on Netflix, Teach You a Lesson (adapted from the Naver webtoon Get Schooled) drops us into a world where teachers fear students, the system protects the powerful, and the only solution appears to be a former special forces captain who solves problems with his fists. It’s nonsense, but it’s cathartic nonsense—and as someone who has taught in a South Korean elementary school, I was all in.
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Above Kim Moo-yeol plays Na Hwa-jin, a former special forces captain turned ERPB inspector (Photo: IMDB)
Above Jin Ki-joo plays Im Han-rim in ‘Teach You a Lesson’. She is the only female member of the main cast (Photo: IMDB)
Kim Moo-yeol plays Na Hwa-jin, a former special forces captain turned ERPB inspector (Photo: IMDB)
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Kim Moo-yeol plays Na Hwa-jin, a former special forces operative turned ERPB inspector. He’s cold granite wrapped in a tactical black suit, but the performance is more layered than that. With students, he holds back. With adults, he shows no mercy. And there is a reason for that, one the show reveals with careful restraint rather than melodramatic explosion.
Jin Ki-joo plays Im Han-rim, his fellow inspector and fellow special forces veteran. She’s the slightly unhinged spark to his ice—the kind of operative who starts fly-kicking before speaking. Her voice and her fists land with equal force. Together, they form the kind of partnership that either restores order or leaves a trail of beautiful, justified chaos. Sometimes both.
Above Pyo Ji-hoon plays Bong Geun-dae and handles all cyber intelligence work (Photo: IMDB)
Above Lee Sung-min plays Choi Gang-seok, the Education Minister who founded the ERPB (Photo: IMDB)
Pyo Ji-hoon plays Bong Geun-dae and handles all cyber intelligence work (Photo: IMDB)
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Pyo Ji-hoon (PO from boy band Block B) plays Bong Geun-dae, a graduate of KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology), the operation’s tech support and resident complainer. He’s the show’s unexpected sweetheart—all wide-eyed complaints about expenses until he’s behind a keyboard dismantling a cyberbullying ring.
And presiding over everything is Lee Sung-min as Education Minister Choi Gang-seok. He carries a quiet, commanding presence that hangs over the entire operation. He founded the ERPB for reasons that become clear as the series progresses, and the show never lets you forget that this bureau, for all its absurdity, was born from genuine loss.
Above Bong Geun-dae goes undercover as a transfer student in this scene from ‘Teach You a Lesson’ (Photo: IMDB)
Bong Geun-dae goes undercover as a transfer student in this scene from ‘Teach You a Lesson’ (Photo: IMDB)
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Yes, there is violence, but the show refuses to take it entirely seriously. The action choreography has looked at the laws of physics, laughed in its face, and walked away. One person fights off thirty opponents without breaking a sweat. People fly backwards from a single punch. Enemies pause politely for a one-liner. It’s ridiculous and comic-book operatic. And it’s absolutely gripping.
The show operates on an episodic structure, dropping the ERPB into a fresh educational nightmare each week—and the nightmares are drawn from a staggering reality. Between 2018 and 2023, one hundred South Korean public school teachers died by suicide. Tens of thousands of educators have marched in the streets. Cases of powerful families shielding their children from consequences surface with numbing regularity. The show takes these raw materials and asks an uncomfortable question: when the system fails this completely and this often, what exactly are we supposed to cheer for?
That question has made Teach You a Lesson deeply controversial. Long before it aired, the source material faced accusations of endorsing corporal punishment, racial insensitivity, and misrepresenting social issues. The television adaptation softened some of those edges, but the core tension remains.
Above Na Hwa-jin helps a student in this scene from ‘Teach You a Lesson’ (Photo: IMDB)
Na Hwa-jin helps a student in this scene from ‘Teach You a Lesson’ (Photo: IMDB)
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Director Hong Jong-chan, who previously worked on the acclaimed Juvenile Justice, told Korean media: “This is a work closely tied to our times. After witnessing the escalating problems in education over many years, I believe we must explore those abandoned by the system and those who use it to harm others.” It is a measured response from a director who knows exactly what he has made and why.
One creative decision, however, has drawn genuine backlash. A scene depicting false accusations was filmed at a location that had reportedly experienced real cases of sexual harassment. Critics called the choice insensitive—a drama that claims to stand with victims filming a sensitive storyline at a site where real victims once walked the halls. The production has not offered a public explanation, and the controversy lingers. More broadly, critics argue the show glamorises vigilante justice, dressing up “might makes right” in superhero packaging. When adults intervene in student conflicts through superior force, some argue that it becomes another form of power bullying, just with different faces.
Whether viewers approve or not, Teach You a Lesson undeniably confronts the deep-seated problems within Korea’s—and indeed much of Asia’s—education systems. Its fight-fire-with-fire approach may not be the ideal solution, but by raising the question and sparking public debate, it has already fulfilled its mission as a socially conscious drama.
Above A classroom scene still from ‘Teach You a Lesson’ (Photo: IMDB)
A classroom scene still from ‘Teach You a Lesson’ (Photo: IMDB)
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You’ll weep at the victims. You’ll gasp at the villains. You’ll find yourself yelling at certain characters. And five minutes later, you’ll laugh again. That tonal juggling act is harder than it looks, and the show makes it look easy.
Here’s the thing: Teach You a Lesson is not asking you to believe that special forces teams belong in school hallways. It’s asking why, in a world where legitimate doors keep slamming shut, a fictional solution feels so desperately welcome. And while you’re pondering that, you'll have a genuinely good time watching this show.
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A storyteller by day and a first-class food devourer by night, Fontaine is the Regional Dining Editor at Tatler Asia, overseeing dining content across all regions and shaping the brand’s editorial voice on food, chefs and culinary culture.
She is also Content Lead for Tatler Best and Co-jury Head for Tatler Best Hong Kong and Macau, guiding the awards’ editorial direction and evaluation process. With over a decade in the lifestyle and media industry spanning London and Hong Kong, she brings a cross-regional perspective to the table.
Follow her on Instagram at @fontimes.
