Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Sex crime reports soar, but leniency still rules
Sexual crimes have skyrocketed in Korea in the last decade -- but nearly half of the people convicted of rape don't serve any time in prison, a Seoul District Court judge said, citing the most recent statistics.
The number of sex crimes -- including rape, statutory rape, child molestation, sexual assault and prostitution -- jumped from 6,093 in 1995 to 13,446 in 2005, according to the National Police Agency. That's an average of 38 crimes per day. Rapes make up half of the crimes, the police said.... The law defines rape as a crime against a female only.

The institute said 83.4 percent of the 7,200 people convicted of sexual crimes against minors, defined by the law as people younger than 19, were repeat offenders.

... Korean courts handed down lesser punishments to the convicts, even when they were imprisoned. The U.S. courts, in 2002, handed down an average 104 month-long prison term to a convicted rapist-robber, while a Korean court handed down 60 months. For cases of sexual assault, the U.S. courts handed down an average prison term of 65 months, compared to an average term of 14 months in Korea.
by Ser Myo-ja, JoongAng Daily (September 18, 2006)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200609/17/200609172205555409900090409041.html

[kermo]

I'm sad to see that definition of rape is limited to females only. I hope there's some criminal category that can accomodate it here, like the more general "sexual assault." I've heard more than one guy talk about sexual assault while serving his mandatory stint in the army, and although the vast majority of those abuses go unrecognized in society, the door needs to be open for them to be legally acknowledged.

[Mashimaro]

Go easy on the rapists and pedophiles..
It's not like they are teaching english without a degree!

[Doogie]

These are only the ones reported. In a country like Korea, imagine how many women are raped and are too afraid to report it and come forward.

[Chow]

Doogie:

I was thinking the same thing. Korea's (fading) low-crime rep has very little to do with actual crimes committed and more to do with reluctance to report certain types of crime (sexual, financial whistle blowing, and even theft).

Also, in a legal system that encourages settlements (blood money) more than most, a huge number of crimes don't make it into the statistics because these settlements are not recorded.

These new statistics are open to some serious questions. Are the rates higher because the crimes are being reported more often and more openly? Are there really more crimes being committed? Is it a combination of the two factors (probably)? How can foreigners be blamed for the increase?

[JongnoGuru]

[RACETRAITOR]

[Mashimaro]

[Junior]

And then you get idiots like patchy etc on here arguing that there is virtually no rapes or domestic abuse in korea...because- there are few to no police convctions...