There was a public outcry after police in Seoul took Jeon Joo-hwan into custody and accused him of stalking After which stabbing A woman to demise in a public relaxation room at a subtechnique station.
The case sparked criticism that the police and courtrooms had Did not shield the sufferer — Regardmuch less of The very Incontrovertible actuality that Jeon proceedd his advertising campaign of harassmalest and despite her reporting him twice in six months.
Every week after the 28-yr-previous woman was killed, the story had largely disseemed from the headlines And completely different people noticed it as simply ancompletely different case of infatuation, rejection and — finally — the killing of a youthful woman.
However, for a rising Quantity of Korean womales, That is simply not Okay.
The genesis of the case Might be traced again over three yrs, when Jeon joined Seoul Metro, The agency that operates the capital metropolis’s subtechnique system. It was there the place he first encountepurple The woman, who has not been identifyd To shield her househprevious’s privateness.
Jeon’s interelaxation in his colleague was not reciprocated, neverthemuch less, at which level he started to harass her with lots of of telephone calls and textual content material messages, and by illicitly filming her.
The metropolis pledged to beef up efforts To shield stalking sufferers And cease any recurrences
Police grievance
The woman reported him for stalking to each her employer and the police. Jeon was fipurple from his job and scheduled To seem in courtroom on September 15 to face costs of stalking, for which he confronted a 9-yr jail time period.
Regardmuch less of requests from the sufferer, the police declined To primarytain Jeon in custody forward of the listening to after figuring out that he posed little or no malesace to her.
The day earlier than he was scheduled to be sentenced, 31-yr-previous Jeon is accused of touring to Sindang Station in central Seoul, the place the sufferer was working. He is accused of pulling out a knife and forcing her into the station bogs, the place authorities say he stabbed her to demise.
In response to questions from reporters as he was being taken into courtroom The subsequent day, Jeon could solely say he had carried out “A very loopy factor” and “I am sorry.”
‘Reverse discrimination’
Jackie Kim-Wachutka, a professor of gender and id in Tokyo and Kyoto, tprevious DW that there was an preliminary “sense of shock” amongst womales and Korean society Usually, “but, Really, the shock dissipates inside A pair of days and the sentimalest turns into: ‘Oh, ancompletely different one.'”
“I really feel A Method of fear pretty than anger,” she said.
“I really feel Korean society is experiencing a critical gender rift,” she said. “This rift stems from prolonged-simmering resentmalests from womales Who’ve been traditionally oppressed but by way of the yrs have gained some exhausting-fought rights, and conpresently from males who really feel A Method of unfairness and unsimply ‘reverse discrimination.'”
“Within the Meantime, South Korea’s gender politics — with misogyny being legitimated from The very biggest public office — is meals for battle,” she said.
“Circumstances Similar to this set off uncooked feelings each amongst womales, who really feel continuously suffererized by an oppressive patriarchal society hiding behind the masks Of womales’s rights,” she said, As properly as to “males who demand that Their very personal ‘oppression’ be acknowledged as they really feel left behind.”
The case has sparked a public demand for extra sturdy measures to stamp out such crimes
Escalating to homicide
Hyobin Lee, an adjunct professor of Korean politics at Chungnam Nationwide College, said that, despite Quite A pair of stalking cases that finally led to homicide, “nofactor has modified significantly, and these crimes are anticipated to proceed to rise.”
An elemalest of The duncookedback, she said, is that punishmalests for stalking or sexual harassmalest are weak. A primary-time stalking offense can Finish in a most of three yrs in jail or a nice of As a lot as 30 million South Korean gained (€21,355, $21,120).
“Even the phrase ‘stalking’ Is comparatively new to many Koreans,” she said. “Stalking has solely been acknowledged as A felony offense for A quick time interval. The regulation on stalking was proposed in 1999, However it took 22 yrs till it turned enforceable.”
“There was stalking Prior to now, Really, However it was not Thought-about A felony offense and there was no Method to report it,” she said.
However That’s altering, with 363 cases reported in 2015 — rising to 583 in 2019.
Regardmuch less of considerations that the subtechnique killing case could shortly be forgotten, there have been indications that it has had an preliminary influence.
Elevated jail time durations
Jeon was given The utmost 9-yr time period when he seemed in courtroom on the stalking costs. He Shall be tried at a later date for the killing of his former colleague.
Equally, A particular person who in late September appealed a 35-yr jail time period for stalking and homicideing a former girlfriend in 2020 noticed his punishmalest increased to 40 yrs behind bars. The appeals courtroom said it was growing the jail time period as a Outcome of 36-yr-previous Kim Byung-chan was not sufficiently remorseful for his actions.
Womales are furtherly taking further measures To shield themselves, with native media reporting that gross sales Of particular personal alarms and pepper spray hovering in current weeks.
New stalking regulations
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo has introduced that The federal authorities meant to work with colleagues from throughout the political spectrum To plan new regulations to halt stalking.
Kim-Wachutk said Korean society Should Search out strategies To deal with The idea causes of The duncookedback.
“The rift Want to be malesded by way of A Sort of ‘fact and reconciliation’ course of between youthful Men And womales, with The assist of communities, schools, civil society and the political world, for reliable mediated dialogue,” she said.
“Only then can there be therapeutic,” she said, “which South Korean society actually wants at this level.”
Lee is much less optimistic, and her conclusion is each stark and fearing.
“The murderer in this case labored for a public agency, and the assault occurred in a crowded, public place Within the midst of the day. I really feel There’s not a such factor as a shielded place in Korea For womales any extra,” she said.
Edited by: Keith Walker
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/south-korea-seoul-subway-killing-sparks-demands-for-tougher-laws/a-63354002