Recently, there have been many murders happening all over the country. Among these murders, many have been “unprovoked murders”, which are called “mud-ji-ma sall-in” in Korean. These types of killings are called “unprovoked murders” because, in these types of crimes, murderers do not have a specific purpose or reason for killing their victims. Due to an increase in these types of crimes, a lot of people in Korea are now hesitant to go outside at night because they are afraid that something bad will happen to them.

          The topic of “unprovoked murder” has gained attention by many people due to a recent murder committed in Gangnam. Gangnam is one of the most popular places in Korea. Thanks to the song “Gangnam Style” by PSY, Gangnam has become well known worldwide, and is a cultural hotspot where lots of people in Korea socialize and hang out. Since it is such a trendy area, no one ever thought that Gangnam would be the scene of a terrible crime. Just a few months ago, there was a murder in one of the karaoke places in Gangnam that turned into a huge social issue for many people. The victim was a 23-year-old woman who was having a good time with her boyfriend in one of the karaoke places. She left the karaoke room to go the bathroom, and a man saw her and stabbed her with his knife. The killer didn’t have any specific reason for killing his victim other than that she was a woman. What’s disturbing is that recently there have been more of these types of crimes happening.

(TV Chosun Capture, original footage provided by Seocho police)

          At first, when there were only one or two murders of this kind, people thought that there was a problem solely with the murderers and that the country should respond only by punishing the murderers harshly. However, as these types of murders and crimes increased, many started to question whether the main problem was the individual murderers or whether there was a problem with society as a whole. If you take a look at these murders, you will see that a majority were committed by a male targeting a female. Even though some could argue that this is because some females are weaker than males, many say that this shows there is a problem with society that makes some men think they can easily victimize women.

The man surnamed Kim caught for stabbing a woman to death in Gangnam on May 17 is taken for an arrest warrant hearing at Seocho Police Station on May 19. (Yonhap)

           In Korea, there’s a special type of organization for the females that other countries may not have, an organization called the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family. Although the ministry supports gender equality, in reality, it focuses mostly on supporting women’s rights. Throughout the course of Korean history, women didn’t have as many rights or privileges as men. Even though time has passed now and women have gained certain rights, many women in Korea feel that there is still a lot of gender inequality, which led them to create the ministry. Since it was first started, the ministry has continued to work to increase the rights and privileges of women. For example, the ministry created women-only parking lots, women-only subways cars, and other social protection programs. These kinds of privileges and rights may be seen by some men as unfair, which could cause them to murder females out of anger.  

          Although this program might’ve protected the women’s rights, the ministry is constantly crossing the line. Instead of supporting for the women’s rights they are constantly limiting the men’s rights which are frustrating the males in Korea. To prevent this to happen, the ministry should respect the males which could probably lower the crime rate. Another problem is that the punishment for convicted criminals in Korea is very lenient. By not having harsh consequences for criminals, people do not hesitate to commit violent crimes. Also, prisons in Korea are very well designed, making prison life very comfortable for prisoners. Therefore, even if someone commits a violent crime and goes to jail, it doesn’t seem like a bad enough punishment. Therefore, Korea should be much harsher to the prisoners, instead of letting them to have watch television and enjoy their time, the country should make an environment where the prisoners could have a self-reflection.

Kyung Yoon Hwang
Rising Grade 11
Korea International School