Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kiddirts]

Before I came to Korea I remember reading a post on this site that talked about a woman getting the @#$% beaten out of her by a Korean man and people on the street were just watching...I couldn't believe it, but something similar happened this Friday night.
Around 12:30 AM I'm walking past a nice restaurant in Daechi, near Dogok station. I hear a big (over 200 pound) Korean man screaming at a woman, I look across the street and this man has this 80- lb girl by the throat and throws her down into the street...he then picks her up and drags her across the street toward me with her feet dangling to get up. She's screaming. This guy is now 5 feet from me...I see him pick her up, choke her with one hand, into a fence near the sidewalk, then throw her down hard into the pavement and kick her.
My eyes started buggin out and I start yelling at the guy...he comes over to me like he's going to hit me, and I get furious...I know the laws in Korea so I didn't want to take a swing, but I push him into the street, he gets back in face, pushes me, he friggin wreaks of Soju, and starts cursing me out in Korean. I'm cursing him out in English threatening him to touch her one more time as I see her black dress is ripped and she shaking on the ground.
Here's the SICK PART...a cab stops in the street and the guy gets into the cab and drags her in with him. Some petty witnesses who wouldn't stick up for the girl had already called the cops and people in the street pointed out which cab they had gotten into. The cops pulled the cab over about 2 blocks away and I raced down to see what would be the aftermath. A second cop car pulled up and there were maybe 5 or 6 cops in all surrounding the taxi cab. They open the door to the cab and talk to the guy for about 5 minutes. THEN THEY LET HIM GO!! Like nothing. There were witnesses that had gathered that were ready to give a report...but THEY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE HIM GET OUT OF THE CAR. Like it was a big joke. They didn't even talk to her at all...unbelievable. If I was a woman in this country, I'd have my bags packed.

[justaskdan]

This does not surprise me one bit, but whatcha going do! As long as you have a clear contience (can't spell that word if my life depended on it) you have to live and let live. And you did the right thing at least you tried to help which is more than a lot of people would do in that situation. Good work!

[Gord]

You condemn others for doing nothing, but when push came to shove you did nothing as well. Great, you were willing to make a stand when you thought that just your being there was all that was needed to bring about a decisive end to a conflict, but when it became apparent that more was going to be needed you simply backed off.

You backed off and allowed someone who was beating their wife/girlfriend/sister and allowed them to put them to be pulled into a taxi to leave.

Why are you complaining about people doing nothing when you, given an opportunity to valiantly hold the line for justice, also did nothing?

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

This should be made into a sticky, one to pull out when all the apologists say their tired old "You just don't understand Korea" and "If you don't like it just go home".

What we have here is utterly conclusive eveidence of what I have been saying on this board for a long time. The cops here simply do not prosecute the law, the uphold only the culture, which is one of old-world mysogeny. And guess what kiddies, the situation in question was all fine and dandy, but imagine if it was a foreign man doing the beating. Do you think he'd get off with little chat with the friendly boys in blue?

[hadeshorn]

Seriously Gord,

Here are your stats.
1 Good post.

The rest totally a waste of space on the hard drive where this forum is saved.

Man, I bet if you were there you would have taken the guys side (As you always do with the Hagwons) and said she probably deserved it because she didnt bring the Soju over quicker.

Anyway the guy came to bat for the girl, I dont think he wanted an all out fist fight and he was probably waiting for some other koreans to come in and back him up but he didnt know they would just watch and call the cops.

He isnt a native here and he already did more then the average Korean!

I have a saying and its a good one.. What he did was better then a kick in the head.

Seriously Gord, your perspective is skewed.

[funplanet]

that may have been my post you read awhile back...the second time my friends and I saw it happen the guy got a welcome blanket party after we followed him home...

I think he had plenty of time in the hospital to contemplate the errors of his actions...

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

[Gord]

[matko]

Twice I subdued a man beating his wife/gf.
Twice the women started beating on me to get me off the a.hole!

[just because]

I think there is a Korean law that if it is family the cops won't deal with it because it is a family issue. i know it is crap and it is slowly changing but it is one of the ugly negatives of living here.

[HardyandTiny]

Koreans usually stay clear and it's best if you do too.
Foreigners are wrong if they hit a Korean or even try to stop a Korean from beating someone. I went through six hours of BS at a Korean police station for knocking a Korean guy out after he hit a Korean woman. Luckily I had SOFA status and was able to get back to reality and clear the matter.
Stay clear of that nonsense.

[Kiddirts]

Gord...I coulda taken the guy , but am I going to risk deportation to stop something that the law in Korea doesn't even think is serious enough to prosecute? If I had cracked him open, the only one prosecuted would have been my foreign A$$. I did what I wanted to do, everyone stood around and watched and I shouted and cursed and pushed him off of her and he ran to the cab that had stopped once he was in the street. I managed to stop this man from attacking her, put the attention on me, heard the sound of the cop cars and believed there to be a practical system of law enforcement here in Korea...or not. Also bro...I've read some of your posts, and I've concluded that you argue just to argue, whether you believe your point or not..like it's giving you free law school practice of arguing the opposing side to what you truly believe...some of your stuff is just way far out...

[mack the knife]

In the States, when police respond to abuse calls, the women usually say "Oh, don't take him to jail, Officer!" Why? Women who find themselves in abusive relationships often have no venue of escape (e.g. no education, family who hates them, kids to take care of, etc.), so they're locked into the "cycle of abuse". Taking away the man means taking away the bread.

No different here. Worse maybe, because here the cops/neighbors/families usually turn a blind eye, so there's little or no recourse/outlet for the victim. It sucks....however....It's foolish to step into someone else's fight in Korea (or anywhere). Period. Unless you're Superman, or have GREAT insurance, or don't care about the ramifications of a soju bottle to the skull (or a shiv in the gut), or the U.S. government's got your back. This isn't the wild west, and you're not Judge Roy Bean (nor a vigilante). If this kills your conscience, call the cops.

[matthews_world]

[matko]