Miryang Gang Rape

This was a horrific case that occurred in Korea in 2004, and this case left many people questioning the Korean justice system and how flawed it is.

The victim’s real name is not known, for privacy reasons. So, the victim of this case was just primarily referred to as Kim.

The Case

This case revolves around a 14-year-old middle school girl referred to as Kim. It all started when Kim mistakenly called the wrong number. She was supposed to call her friend instead she called the wrong number and a guy answered the phone. He sounded a bit older, they began talking on the phone. The guy was pretty normal, there was not anything suspicious or weird about him. The guy would soon ask her to join an online chat. Kim soon does, and that chat includes other people as well. After 6 months of talking the guy would invite Kim to Miryang. So, Kim after school would go to Miryang along with her younger and older sister. Kim and her sisters took the bus to Miryang. At Miryang, she and her sisters were not just greeted by one guy, there was a group of guys. They went out to grab food, and after that Kim and her sisters came to no that the bus service to their home town had ended. They did not know this, no one had informed Kim before they came to Miryang. Now they were stranded. One of the guys offered they could stay in the hotel for a night, and since they had no other choice they obliged. This is where everything goes wrong, in that hotel room Kim would be subject to rape. The whole group would rape her and this would be filmed. This is what happened for a year, those guys would keep calling her to Miryang by blackmailing her with that video. They would threaten her by saying if she did not come the video would be posted online. Kim had no choice but to listen to them. Over 1 year, Kim would be raped by a total of 44 guys. This number could have been more, but we don’t know as only 44 were formally charged.

Interview

When the victim was interviewed to give her statement. It was just horrible, the investigators were insinuating that it was Kim’s fault. They were like she flirted with them online and she went all the way to Miryang to meet them. In other words, they are saying it was her fault that she was raped. I’m just at a loss for words here, the victim-blaming was at its peak. From this interview, it was evident that the police were all protecting the perpetrators instead of the victims. There was this one inspector who said this to Kim “Why do you have to come to Miryang and destroy its good name”. No one was protecting Kim.

The flaw in the investigation

The investigation into the Miryang case was so flawed and it was met with widespread criticism. Only 44 were formally charged, there have been speculations that more people could have been involved. Most of the perpetrators were just sent to the detention center or juvenile. The reasoning for this is that most of them were minors. None of them faced any jail time. So , most of the perpetrators got to live a normal life while the victam's life will never be the same again. This case was mishandled and faced outrage from the public. This case was a chilling reminder of how flawed the Korean justice system truly is.