How Unfortunate Incident Combines People for Better Good
Recently, unfortunate news dragged numerous people into despair. One of the most famous K-Pop idols, a member of the all-female group Kara, Hara Goo, was found dead at home. After investigation, the police concluded that she has taken her own life away. This news once again surfaced her struggles during her lifetime; she was a victim of spycam. She “was secretly filmed by a boyfriend” and was threatened to share the video to ruin her career.
Such news brought several Korean social problems into the spotlight: sexual crimes — especially spy cams — and lack of social awareness about such issues. In fact, such issues have consistently been reported as Korea’s traditional problem. More than 11,200 spy camera cases were reported to police in just two years. Considering the fact that the victims of sexual abuse hesitate to report in a fear of being socially humiliated, the number of cases will be even higher.
Despite that it is such a serious illness in Korean society, there are bare minimum actions or protections by the government. In fact, most of those found guilty for such crimes simply receive a fine. Also, Goo’s boyfriend was not found guilty of illicit filming. Although the court agreed that her boyfriend filmed without Goo’s consent, they found him not guilty of illicit filming simply because they were still in a relationship.
On the bright side, though, her unfortunate decision encouraged people to publicly fight against such incidences. People started campaigns of using the hashtag #최종범_처벌 [punish Choi (name of the Goo’s boyfriend)] and tens of thousands took to the streets to protest against the practice of spy camera crimes by crying “my life is not your porn.” Although there have been very few changes in terms of political or constitutional level, it still increased the awareness of the urgency to take action in such issues.
I still see the future of Korean society with a hopeful and bright lens. Although it may be true that Korean society has traditionally neglected such a pressing social issue, an increasing number of people are taking this issue seriously. In the course of INFO 2040, we were able to estimate whether people would learn new actions by observing the ratio of their neighbors practicing the new behavior. After a certain ratio of their neighbors began to practice the new behavior, the individual also adopted the new behavior. This is why I remain optimistic that the future of Korean society can change. An increasing number of citizens are fighting against such incidents, which will also cause their neighboring individuals to learn awareness and be convinced to fight against such cases. In the near future, the majority of the citizens will be aware of such issues and join the actions to abolish such mal-practices.