Tag: rape

ROK Heads may remember that this guy is a notorious career criminal who used the “I was drunk” defense to have his sentence reduced:

Cho Doo-soon, one of South Korea’s most notorious child rapists in recent memory, was released from prison on Saturday amid strong protests against the heinous criminal’s return to society. 

Cho served a 12-year term for kidnapping and raping an 8-year-old girl in a church bathroom in Ansan, 42 kilometers southwest of Seoul, in December 2008. A huge public outcry has erupted over what has been seen as too lenient a punishment for a horrendous sexual crime against a minor.

He left the correctional facility in southern Seoul early Saturday and returned to his home in Ansan, south of the capital, escorted by probation officers. 

Some of about 150 angry protesters, who waited for his appearance near his residence, threw eggs at Cho when he arrived and shouted slogans calling for him to be executed or expelled from the city.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

A good trend in South Korea is that people convicted of committing rape are at least going to jail now, even popular K-Pop stars:

Two disgraced South Korean singers — Jung Joon-young and Choi Jong-hoon — were given heavy prison sentences Friday after being convicted on rape and other charges.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Jung, a disgraced singer and TV personality, and Choi, a former member of boy band FT Island, to six and five years, respectively, in prison on charges of sexually assaulting women in 2016.

Jung and Choi, both 30 years old, were indicted on charges of raping women during drinking parties in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, in January 2016 and in Daegu in March of the same year, together with other members of a mobile chat room.

Jung was given a heavier prison term, as he was additionally indicted on charges of secretly filming himself having sex with women and sharing the footage with friends on mobile chats.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here we go again with another example in South Korea of a criminal getting away with a sex crime by claiming the victim did not resist enough, and this time it was a 10 year old girl:

Criticism is mounting over a recent high court ruling that commuted a prison term for a child rapist.

The court said the 10-year-old victim’s testimony was insufficient to prove there was “enough threat and physical assault” that made the victim unable to defend herself ― which would constitute a rape charge.

In the June 13 ruling, the Seoul High Court handed down a three-year jail term to the offender, a cram school teacher surnamed Lee, 35. The sentence was reduced drastically from an earlier term of eight years given by a local court.

Lee met the victim through a chatting app in April last year. He brought her to his home and had her drink two glasses of soju to get her drunk. He then sexually assaulted her by holding her hands and pressing against her body so she could not move.

Lee denied the allegations, claiming he did not know that the girl, who was 160 centimeters tall, was 10 years old at the time, and that he had sex with her with her consent. 

Although the local court acknowledged Lee used threats and physical assaults to the point where she was unable to defend herself, the high court did not ― it said the girl’s statement was the only evidence regarding the threat and assault and that it was insufficient.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but this case shows that in South Korea you can get a 10 year old drunk with soju, hold her down, and rape her and not be convicted for forcible rape. At least they up held the statutory rape conviction on him which will keep him in jail for 3 years.

This issue is nothing new ROK Heads may remember the rapist of a U.S. soldier who was set free by this same Seoul High Court because she could not prove that she resisted enough.

If the autopsy shows the girl died from alcohol poisoning I would hope these two are charged with at least manslaughter:

An arrest warrant is being sought against two high schoolers on charges of allegedly raping a high school girl, Saturday, the police said. The girl was found dead afterwards.

According to the Yeonggwang Police in South Jeolla Province, two 17 year-old students surnamed Jung and Baek raped the victim, 16, in a motel room in Yeonggwang county on Thursday.

It was between 2:10 a.m and 4:15 a.m. when the two left the crime scene. The victim was later found dead by the owner of the motel who came in to clean up the room, around 4 p.m. that day.

According to the police, Jung and Baek had planned to commit sexual assault after they got the girl drunk in a “drinking game.” They had known the girl since childhood.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Here is yet another example of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces having to release someone falsely convicted of rape:

In a split 3-2 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces tossed out the highly decorated commando’s 2014 court-martial conviction and barred the armed forces from ever trying him again.

The legal victory of Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Keith E. Barry — who never quit proclaiming his innocence — will ripple across the entire military.

Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Scott W. Stucky, a retired Air Force colonel, determined that not only can the military’s most senior attorneys be held responsible for bogus advice that helps to unlawfully coerce a prosecution but that Crawford “actually did so in this case.”

Like I had previously said, An may have gotten off criminally, but his career is over politically considering 20,000 people were motivated to come out and protest like this:

Around 20,000 people rallied in downtown Seoul, Saturday, to protest a court’s recent decision to acquit former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung of sexually assaulting and harassing his former secretary.

The public anger over the ruling in favor of the fallen political star in a high-profile #MeToo case signals a critical juncture in the months-long movement. The protest organizer expected only up to 2,000 participants.

The crowd, mostly dressed in black and of varying age groups, chanted slogans such as “A judiciary that protects sex offenders is an accomplice,” while holding placards stating, “No country for women” and “We, the survivors, are all Kim Ji-eun” (the alleged victim in An’s case). [Korea Times]

Here is some interesting facts about the case:

When Kim Ji-eun disclosed the sexual offenses by An in March, he first admitted to the crime on Facebook saying, “My office’s statement it was a consensual sexual relationship was wrong. This is all my fault.” However, he changed his statement after an investigation started, saying they had consensual sex.

The Seoul Western District Court ruled last Tuesday there was “insufficient evidence” that the accused used his position of authority to coerce the victim into having unwanted sex, saying the incident did not involve “the degree of physical force that makes it impossible for the victim to resist.”  (…….)

In a letter read out to the protesters through her lawyer, Kim Ji-eun also reiterated this point.

“Do I have to kill myself to be recognized as a true #MeToo victim?” Kim’s letter read. “I was physically and sexually assaulted by An that day; I did everything in my power to show I did not want it to happen; I could not run away because I knew that I would be fired.”

Kim also denounced the court proceedings for not questioning An’s testimony.

“Dear judges: Did you ask An why he said sorry to me; why he first wrote on Facebook it was not a consensual relationship; and why he destroyed his phone before the prosecutors got to him? Why did you not question the perpetrator?” Kim said in the letter.

The protesters also said they were frustrated at the court’s failure to recognize the sexual intercourse between the employer and the employee as a rape only because there was no physical coercion or verbal threats.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Activists stage a rally in front of a court in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, 200 kilometers south of Seoul, on Aug. 16, 2018, denouncing a Seoul court ruling that found former South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung not guilty of sexually abusing his former secretary Kim Ji-eun. The 54-year-old politician was indicted in April on charges of forcing Kim to have sex with him four times and molesting her multiple times between the middle of last year and early this year in Seoul and while on overseas business trips. The Seoul court said that there was not sufficient evidence to prove An used his position to have sexual relations with the plaintiff. (Yonhap)

Former Governor and liberal political rival of Moon Jae-in, An Hee-jung has avoided jail time for rape but his political career is probably finished:

A Seoul court has found former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung not guilty of raping his former secretary.

In one of the highest-profile #MeToo cases here, the Seoul Western District Court said Tuesday there was insufficient evidence that An used his authority to have sexual relations with the plaintiff, Kim Ji-eun, against her will.

“The suspect was an influential politician, was touted as a potential presidential candidate, and, as governor, An had the power to dismiss and hire the victim, which can be seen that he had authority,” the court said. “However, there was no evidence he used that authority to have sexual relations with Kim.”

It said both are adults with intellect and sound judgment, there were no evidence An infringed on the victim’s sexual freedom, and the only evidence was the victim’s testimony.

In April, the 52-year-old politician was indicted for allegedly forcing sexual intercourse on his former secretary four times as well as molesting her on several occasions from mid-2017 to early this year in Seoul and during overseas business trips.

The court also pointed out that there was a lack of evidence of psychological damage which she claimed to have suffered.

“The following morning after the first sexual contact in Russia, Kim searched for a Korean restaurant that An would like. And after returning to Korea, she went to a beauty parlor, which An often visited, to get her hair done,” the court said. “The victim also continuously expressed admiration toward An not only in work-related situations but also when meeting acquaintances unrelated to work, which makes it difficult to accept the victim’s testimony.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Considering how Koreans tend to keep embarrassing things like this quiet, I am not surprised how sexual abuse like this was allowed to go on for so long:

When Kim Eun-hee was 10 years old, a primary school child with dreams of tennis stardom, her coach raped her for the first time. Then he did it again. And again. And again.

The South Korean was too young to even know what sex was. But she knew she dreaded the repeated orders to come to his room at their training camp, and the pain and humiliation.

“It took me years to realize that it was rape,” Kim said. “He kept raping me for two years. … He told me it was a secret to be kept between him and me.”

Now 27, Kim has spoken to international media about her experiences for the first time, and revealed how female athletes in South Korea have silently suffered sexual abuse by their coaches.  (……..)

In a highly competitive society where winning is everything, many young athletes forgo schooling or live away from families to train with their peers and coaches full time, living in a dorm-like environment for years.

The training camp system — akin to models used by communist sporting machines such as China — is credited with helping the South punch well above its weight on the global sporting stage.

But it has proven to be the setting for abuse in several sports — especially of underage athletes whose existence is controlled by their trainers.

“The coach was the king of my world, dictating everything about my daily life from how to exercise to when to sleep and what to eat,” said Kim, adding that he beat her repeatedly as part of “training.”

The coach was eventually dismissed after some parents complained of his “suspicious behavior,” but he was simply moved to another school with no criminal inquiry. Many victims are forced into silence in a world where going public often means the end of any aspirations to stardom.

“This is a community where those who speak out are ostracized and bullied as ‘traitors’ who brought shame to the sport,” said Chung Yong-chul, a sports psychology professor at Sogang University in Seoul.

A 2014 survey commissioned by the Korean Sports & Olympic Committee showed that around 1 in 7 female athletes had experienced sexual abuse in the previous year, but 70 percent of them did not seek help of any kind.  [Japan Times]

You can read much more at the link.

This is a horrible story coming out of Incheon:

A middle school student has admitted raping a 13-year-old, who committed suicide in Incheon on July 23.

He was one of two male students suspected of sexual assault, Incheon police said.

The victim hanged herself in her room. No suicide note was found.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.