Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

Families of murder victims destitute
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2899111
December 27, 2008
Families of murdered loved ones struggle not only to overcome their grief, but sometimes immense economic hardship.

Currently, the government pays little to the families of murder victims, making it difficult for them to resume normal lives.

A Justice Ministry official told JoongAng Ilbo reporters that �the amount of compensation being granted to a victim�s family in Korea is too low.�

He said an expansion of the existing crime victim compensation program is now under discussion, which includes measures to increase support to families of murder victims.

Lee Chang-keun, 47, is a case in point. Lee�s 10-year old daughter, Hye-jin, disappeared on Christmas Day last year. Seventy-seven days later police found her dismembered body in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

Police later found the body of Hye-jin�s friend, Wu Ye-seul, 8, who had disappeared at the same time. A 39-year-old man identified as Jeong, who lived a short distance from the girls� houses in Anyang, was arrested for kidnapping, sexually abusing and murdering the two.

In June, the Suwon District Court handed Jeong a death sentence. Jeong appealed to the Supreme Court. A year has passed since Hye-jin�s death, but grief still besets her family. �Our lives were completely turned upside down after Hye-jin left us. The loss of our daughter is so painful that no one in this family can now earn a decent living,� Lee said.

Lee quit his job at print shop where he had worked for 15 years because could not cope with the loss of his daughter.

The only person who makes a living for now is Lee�s wife, Lee Dal-sun, 41, who works at a restaurant in Anyang and brings home 700,000 won ($533.13) a month.

The two are concerned about supporting the four-member family and fear their income is insufficient to pay for the educational expenses of their two surviving kids. The couple�s son will soon begin preparing for the college entrance exam and their daughter will enter high school next year.

Since the killer could not afford to pay the family to compensate for Hye-jin�s death, the government paid the family 10 million won.

�Many bereaved families in Korea like us are highly unlikely to receive compensation from killers because most of them are not financially well off,� Lee said.

And even killers with the means to pay have found ways to block the system.

Such a case involved Heo, 40, who suffered after a male merchant killed his 11-year-old daughter in Seoul on Feb. 17, 2006. The merchant, Kim, 55, was arrested on charges of molesting and killing Heo�s daughter.

Heo sued Kim for damages.

A court eventually ordered Kim to pay 259 million won. Heo, however, has not yet received any money from Kim because Kim sold his apartment five days after his arrest.

�The offender got a life sentence because he was thought to have been remorseful during his trial. How can we say the offender was remorseful after he sold his apartment immediately being arrested?� Heo asked. �Our clock stopped ticking after the death of our daughter. Neighbors tried to persuade us to have a second child and try to forget the past. But we cannot let her go. We will never let her go from our hearts.�

In cases where a convicted murderer cannot pay compensation, the government steps in.

The problem, survivors say, is that the compensation program is insufficient. The government can pay each family up to 10 million won, a 10th of what a family of a victim killed in a hit-and-run accident can receive.

The Justice Ministry�s compensation program for a victim�s family has remained unchanged for 17 years, following a revision in 1991.

To the aggravation of some families, there is no guarantee that all of them will receive compensation because of strict government qualifications.

Of 172 claimants who filed for victim compensation in 2006, only 103 were successful.

According to Justice Ministry data released in 2008, the ministry allocates 1.8 billion won annually to compensation all crime victims. In contrast, Japan spends 31 billion won yearly on people who have suffered because of crime.

The Office for Victims of Crime in the United States administers a $13 billion Crime Victims Fund to compensate victims or their families. It collects the majority of the money from offender fees and fines. There are also victim compensation funds administered by the various states.


By Jung Hyo-sik JoongAng Ilbo/ Kim Mi-ju Staff Reporter [[email protected]]

[wylies99]

[The Grumpy Senator]

The Goldman family has recieved next to nothing from OJ. He was able to hide millions from the courts.

[ryoga013]

[Ilsanman]

Sounds like the labour board here. They will 'strongly encourage' the person to do it, but are either unwilling or unable to force them.

[wylies99]

[itaewonguy]

[mekku]

it isn't the government's responsibility to support the families of those murdered or of other crime victims. where would it stop- if your child is raped or a spouse is severely hurt and in the hospital, should the government be required to pay you damages? other than unemployment (not even sure if they have that in korea), i can't imagine why a government should have to pay. i do feel that the government should be ensure that lawsuits should be paid out and such, but that's it.

if the family is so worried about being able to afford school costs for the two children, perhaps the father should go back to work and earn a living so his wife's meager wages aren't trying to support a family of four.

i can't even imagine the grief and suffering a family must go through in such situations. i realize it would take time to start functioning again and i don't ever expect the family to 'get over it', but at some point you have to do what needs to be done. pick yourself up, get back to work and start living again.