Korea has been gripped by the horrific and gruesome murder (April 1) of Ms. K, a 28 year old woman who was kidnapped, raped, and dismembered into 280 parts, despite having called the police giving accurate details as to her whereabouts. The police arrived at the crime scene 13 hours later, to find her dismembered body as well as the suspected murderer, a Chinese of Korean descent (Korean name Oh Won-chun).
As the transcript of the police conversation was made available over the weekend, to the disbelief of everyone, the police are seen asking utterly incompetent questions while debating the seriousness of the crime. The recording also disclosed a series of lies told by the police force to cover up their incompetence. As new evidence emerges by the hour, it would seem that CCTV was available, despite the police saying the contrary. On the 9th April, the head of the Korea’s police force Cho Hyun-oh stepped down assuming responsibility.
The murder case, dubbed as the ‘Suwon Torso Murder Case’, has taken many Koreans aback, in no less part due to the atrocious nature of the incident, but as well as complete dismay towards the utter incompetency of the police handling of the crime. Netizens were quick to accuse the police of murder, while others called for the suspect to receive the death penalty. Furthermore, the incident has re-ignited the debate on multiculturalism policy, growing presence of migrant workers, and xenophobia.
All portal sites have been inundated with comments from netizens nationwide, with tens of thousands of comments left by infuriated internet users. With only one day left before election day, this will also come as a potential blow to the Saenuri Party, who are even using a naturalised Korean as part of their campaign.
From Gyeong-Hyang:
“Who, who is doing that?” – Police’s frustrating response at a report of sexual violence
The 112 emergency report centre could not prevent the kidnap and murder of a female victim in her twenties.
Poor handling by the police to the emergency report at 112 is under criticism, regarding the kidnap and murder of a 28 year old female victim by a Chinese-Korean in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do on the 1st of April. Public’s criticizing eye claims that the murder could have been prevented if the police rapidly asked the victim of the site of crime and took an appropriate action.
According to the voice recording from the 112 emergency centre, disclosed on the 5th of April by the Gyeonggi Metropolitan Police Agency, the victim (initialled K, 28 years old) had been talking to the police on the mobile phone for more than a minute. She locked up the room she was kidnapped in and called the police (at 112) for help while the criminal (Chinese-Korean Wu, 42 years old) was negligent in guarding her.
She dialled 112 at the emergency report centre at 10.50 pm 58 seconds, on the day of the crime and talked to the policeman at work for about a minute and a half.
She reported that she was sexually harassed by some man she didn’t know, and was taken to somewhere that she didn’t recognise, where she was dialling the police number with the door locked. She also quite accurately reported the situation and site of crime, describing that the house was between Ji-dong Primary school and Mot-gol playground.
[Transcript of the recording]
>Police: This is the police at 112.
Victim: Hello, I am in a house before Mot-gol playground and getting sexually harassed.
P: Mot-gol playground?
V: Yes, it’s somewhere in the direction of the playground but I can’t tell which house.
P: In Ji-dong?
V: Yes, it’s past the Ji-dong primary school, on the way towards Mot-gol playground.
P: I will try location-tracking with your mobile phone.
V: Ok.
P: So, you are getting sexually harassed now? It’s sexual violence you are getting?
V: Yes, yes.
P: You don’t recognise the detailed location?
V: It’s somewhere before reaching the Mot-gol playground, starting from the Ji-dong primary school…
P: From Ji-dong primary school…
V: …before reaching the Mot-gol playground.
P: Who, who is doing this to you?
V: Some guy, it’s some random guy. Please be quick, please.
P: Who is this, do you know him in any way?
V: It’s someone I don’t know.
P: What did you do to the door of the room you are in?
V: I’ve locked it just now.
P: Have you locked the door?
V: I have, while the guy was away for a while.
P: Will you let me know once again when you enter? [I honestly do not understand what and why he is talking about!]
V: (sound of the door being forced open) I beg you, please, I’m sorry…
P: Hello, can you tell me the address once again?
However, the policeman at the centre did not question her on the characteristics of the building which would help them quickly find where she was locked in, such as the structure of the house or how many floors there were. The policemen instead spent the time repeating his questions to her or asking “who is harassing you?” even though identifying the suspect was not the first thing to clarify before rescuing her.
The victim’s phone call ended following a sound of the door forced open and her voice begging the criminal for pardon. The house that the murder happened was on the ground floor of a multiplex housing, some 80 meters away from the gate of Ji-dong Primary school in the direction of Mot-gol playground, as she reported. Police sources said that it was difficult to locate the site of crime because it was surrounded by residential buildings and the primary school and the playground was one kilometre apart. They also claimed that location-tracking of a mobile phone does not identify where exactly the owner of the phone is, but only identifies the base station for the phone.
The victim was kidnapped and murdered by the suspect Wu on her way back home, merely because she hit her shoulder onto his while walking on the street.
Comments From Nate:
김진영:
How desperate would the victim have felt at that situation…Gosh, what’s the use of GPS, mister police? I try not to say ill things about the Police who are passionate and diligent to serve the country, but this is an exception. They are just sucking on our tax money for nothing. I hope that the policeman who received that call could reflect upon his terrible mistake throughout his life and please be careful not to make this kind of incident happen again.
배명자:
Shit, don’t try to suck fine out of people with petty crimes, and instead you got to be better at dealing with this kind of things. Shit I’m at a loss with words but swear.
홍혁준:
What the hell is that word ‘Chinese-Korean’ [the Korean version says something like ‘Korean expats in China”, but this is clearly not the case so I’ve translated it into Chinese-Korean] doing, in place of the word ‘Chosun-jok’?
최현호:
Fire that policeman right away. He didn’t know which house she was in but was getting sexually harassed. You don’t recognise this as kidnapping? She’s screaming at the suspect and you are asking her for the address? What a crazy ass, are you ordering Jja-jang myun [Chinese-derived noodles popularly ordered for delivery]? Some dope has set his arse down “at work” – as if. I’m 100%, no 120%, sure that it is failure of duty, 100000000000 times. He must have been grinning on the phone. That’s nearly some comedy/variety show if you look at the recording of the call. I can’t imagine how much that girl would have hated the police until the moment she died… Had she better call a quick-witted friend instead… she would have had all sorts of thoughts. I don’t know if that policeman was a detective or a constable, but if you do get to keep your job without getting fired…Don’t you EVER forget this incident. But I pray that you get fired if possible. “what did you do to the door?” “I’ve locked it.” “You’ve locked it?” This is insane, really… Is this a joke or what. They’ve been saying 12 sentences in a minute. They must have been said really urgently. But look at each of the 12 sentences that bastard said. If I was the family of the victim, I would have caught that kid first off and finish him.
한수아:
Hello~? Yes~ so you are getting raped? What is the address? Who is the person trying to rape you? Is he going to stab you with a knife? Is he holding a sashimi knife or an ordinary kitchen knife? Hello~?
이대민:
“I beg you, please, I’m sorry.” Her last words ring in my ears. I don’t know her at all, but I am so sorry. I feel really so sad. That innocent girl was begging, trembling and holding her phone because of that trash who didn’t see women as nothing else but a tool to fix his sexual desire. She must have seen his eyes and feared him. Every male readers of this article should know this. Women must be protected by men, and they are not tools to fix your desires.
손수철:
That fucking bastard policeman who received the call should also go to prison. He was aiding and abetting the murder because he spent all that time babbling about trash like that in such an urgent situation. He should be regarded as an accomplice and be punished. Shit. Ah~ it really angers me. Shit. I want to strip the skin off and kill all the Chosun-jok and illegal immigrant bastards in Korea.
정병길:
Everyone had better dial 119 instead of calling the police. Then you’ll be rescued straight away. Firemen are legally licensed to track your exact location right away……. Her last words don’t leave my mind……
한수아:
Response to a similar report in a developed country: Victim: I’m under threat of sexual harassment. Please come here fast. 911: Don’t turn off your mobile phone. Hide it well out of sight. We’re coming right away. – end of situation……
엄기윤:
Fried chicken deliveries are faster than the police.
임종빈:
You might as well say that the bastard at the 112 centre killed her… For example, try reporting to the Cyber Report Centre. It’s so freaking complicated to report that it makes you give up in the middle. I was hacked on Nate On [messenger service related to the Nate account] and was going to report it, but I gave up because I had to visit the police in person, write some stuff as well, etc. and it was all very complicated.
As details emerged that the police were covering up their mistakes and it became apparent that CCTV footage of Ms. K being kidnapped was available, the head of the police force Cho Hyun-oh stepped down, adding fuel to an already raging fire.
Comments From Nate:
황주연:
If you don’t sentence him [the murderer] to death, then you should all go to hell
이명박:
Now where are all those of you preach for multiculturalism?
One netizen, 박나솔, a family member of the victim, shared her thoughts on the discussion board too:
I am from the family of the murdered girl. The police clearly stated to us that there was nothing on CCTV. How on earth are we supposed to know what is true or not? The police are saying nothing but lies, and far from feeling sorry, they even called my sister to ask when the hell they dozed off [presumably because the sister accused the police of dozing off during the case] and are all upset because they feel they are the falsely accused. You’re right, you weren’t dozing off, you were SLEEPING…geez, wake the hell up! Both my family and sister are scared that the police might hurt us. Does this make sense?
While others added:
김지숙:
Cunts, she reported to the police by calling 112 [Korean equivalent to 911 – except for police services, where police can track you down without your consent, which is different to 119 which is the ambulance service, who can track you down without your consent], and the police listened to her [being abused] for over 7 minutes! Korea is the only country in the world where they couldn’t catch the criminal for 13 hours even though there was CCTV in the crime scene.. You guys are just lazy…. You are not interested whether or not people are dying.. You just hold it up and wait for the day to finish and get paid… Because of you bastards, YOU basically killed her…
박진성:
Nate should expand this article on this Chinese guy. You should close all the celeb gossip and sports articles and dedicate all your resources to the ‘Suwon Murder Case’. All the people of this country, from elementary school down to high school, down to the disabled should know about this
As the day unfolded, the a new head of the police force was sworn in, amid a lavish ceremony. One netizen on Nate commented:
윤희주:
All that was left of the girl were bones, cut up into 280 pieces divided into 14 bags. She was butchered rather than murdered… But in front of the family of the deceased the police were doing a ceremony with flowers to celebrate the arrival of the new police chief. They are really out of their minds. Did they even give chrysanthemums to the deceased girl? Flowers… in front of the wailing families of the deceased?? ㅠㅠ This should be shown on the news of the main broadcasters. This is the reality of the police’s way of thinking. But while the 112 centre were listening to the call, they can be heard saying “Isn’t this another couple quarrel? Or isn’t it simply another sexual assault?” Even if it was a “quarreling couple” or a “simple sexual assault”, shouldn’t you guys be the one checking to see if it is a big deal or not? On the contrary aren’t you taking this more lightly than normal citizens? 135 people disappeared in Korea after Oh Won-chun [name of murderer] entered the country, so your job is to find all those 135 girls without exception. That is your duty. For the sake of the girl, rest in peace… ㅠㅠ If she knew that that was her last phone call while she was still alive, she would have wanted to talk to her mother, but she had trust in the police system, which in turn crushed her….
The after-effects of this murder case will be felt for many months to come, as the debate on multiculturalism policy re-emerges.
Comments From Nate:
서민응 :
I’m a Korean student studying in the UK. In the UK, all Chinese, even rich Chinese international students, have to pay a fee of several tens of thousands of won and register with a police station within the area where they live. And of course, they have to get a guarantee letter from their school, or from their company in case of workers. And if they move even just to the house next door, they have to pay the registration fee and re-register with the police station again. If they don’t, they get deported immediately. Of course in the case of Koreans in the UK, they don’t have to follow such procedures because Korea’s country international grading is much higher. But I think we also need to establish similar measures in Korea.
이승헌 :
In this situation should we still call them Chinese? We cannot help but call Chosun-jok a rotten apple. Don’t call them Chinese… call them dormant criminals For God’s sake, please tighten the immigration screenings…
김혜령 :
So even if they do this (crime), are you saying we should let foreigners live an easy life in Korea?
김재천 :
Chinese?? You must be kidding… They pretend to be Korean when it suits them…. But among themselves they call themselves Chinese… And when you go to China… Chosun-jok cheat Korean people more (than Chinese)… Above all… as they enter [Korea], crime keeps increasing… They don’t have any permanent hometown… they haven’t been fingerprinted… And if they cause trouble and then go to China, it becomes an unsolved case… We really need some proper solution.
장영철 :
Chosun-joks are dangerous. I’m not saying it as a prejudice, it’s a fact. Once before I taking over a place which used to be run by Chosun-joks, And in the last drawer there were like 2 knifes… -_- (in a workplace where there is no use for knifes) One of the knifes looked like a fruit knife, the other one was especially adapted. -_- Be careful ㅠㅠ
정예진:
I live in a Kurodong, which is swarming with Choseonjok. And I think they really are worse than cockroaches. I’ve lived there since I got married, and now I got two kids as well. I’m really thinking about selling our house as soon as possible and moving to another neighborhood. It’s really dirty, noisy and smelly. After I move, I’m not even gonna look in this direction.
To re-iterated the point, articles on violent foreigners in Korea have surfaced, some giving graphs such as the one below.
Crimes by foreigners
Yellow: murder
Dark gray: robbery
Blue: rape
Light gray: Aggravated assault
Comments From Nate:
김준:
Korea is a really strange country, lenient to foreigners, strict to fellow citizens… What’s more, it’s a country that treats its citizens as pushovers and thinks that everything can be solved by mind-numbing drinking.
이건기:
Free medical care for illegal immigrants. Scholarships for foreign students. Free ticket back home. Expenses paid for family members living abroad to visit Korea. Special admissions [to schools] for children from multicultural families. What have you ever done for Korea? We have tried to ladle out [favors] to foreign workers and all we are getting back is murdered Koreans. Are you kidding? .. You should instead give such favors to our nation’s armed forces that are risking their lives while serving abroad, or those from the Cheonan Ship or the shelling of Yeonpyeong. This is quite outrageous. Families of the soldiers killed in Cheonan ship are hardly making the living. And what… fucking free scholarships for foreigners??? Free ticket back home??? What the fuck?
이형민:
According to Yun Jong-yong, the vice-president of Samsung Electronics, we need to train 2 millions of workers from other cultures. Big conglomerates are encouraging multiculturalism. The politicians, conservative and progressive media are all just keeping silent about these dark sides of multiculturalism. And if you say you oppose multiculturalism, they brand you a racist and extreme rightist. Does multiculturalism mean that citizens must always worry about what foreigners think?
김대수:
Deportation of illegal immigrants, unconditional inspections of foreigners on the streets, and deportation of those acting strange
The case of the ‘Suwon Torso Murder’ is far from over and koreaBANG will strive to keep you informed with the latest updates taking the Korean internet by storm in the days, if not weeks ahead. Stay tuned…
