Remember how I once reported that they say 'there is no crime in Korea?'
Well, I'm finding more and more evidence that this statement is much like that in Fievel, 'there are no cats in America'.
First, of course, my bike was stolen from the bike rack outside my hagwon building. A bummer, but no big deal really. One instance of petty theft in 13 months isn't so bad considering the size of the metro area I live in.
But a few days ago I noticed a small article in the Korea Times glossing over an incident that happened in Incheon on Friday night. The article was short, and mentioned some public dissatisfaction with the police force and the resignation of the police chief. This was due to a perceived mishandling of a gang-related scuffle.
Naturally this news blurb intrigued me. What exactly had happened? Where had it happened? How did the police mishandle it?
I executed my expert google skills, expecting to find a full article with ease. To my surprise, I did not find anything more on my first try. So I tried another search term. Still nothing substantial. On my third try, I found a news blog that gave a more detailed outline of the incident.
On Friday night, (which happened to be Police Day), a group of Ganseok gang members were attending funeral services at the Gil University hospital for the leader's wife. (Funeral services are held for a few days at the hospital before final service and burial in Korean culture).
Outside the hospital shortly before midnight, a member of the Ganseok gang and a member of the Crown gang got into an argument. Soon, members of their gangs came to join in. But not just a few members. 100 members of the Ganseok gang and 30 members of the Crown gang came. A fight broke out, and the original arguing Crown member stabbed the Ganseok guy. During this whole time, about 70 police officers showed up and basically stood around and watched for 2 hours. After the stabbing, they arrested the perp and dispersed the crowd.
The police chief learned of the incident through media outlets a few days later. Public disapproval of the police's lack of action caused him to resign his position.
Many questions arise when considering this story.
First, how corrupt are the police that the police stand around watching a gang fight for 2 hours, and the chief does not even 'know' about it for a few days? Why wouldn't they call in riot police? Or use weapons? Or tear gas? Apparently one thing that the police has now approved is to encourage officers to use their pistols more freely in dealing with gang violence. That's good...but why was it restricted before?
Another question...how the hell is this not huge news?? There was a gang fight of 130 people. The fact alone that 100 members of a gang were gathered in one spot is hard to wrap your head around. Add to that the fact that they had a fight, someone was stabbed, and the police didn't stop it... if this had happened anywhere in America, it would be ALL OVER the news. Yes, we all know that the US media sensationalizes the shit out of the most insignificant events, and actual events quickly become a media circus. But this seems to be the opposite extreme. Is the Korean media being censored? If so, by whom? The government, the police, themselves? Interestingly, this brawl took place on Police Day, which is a day designated by the city to commemorate and celebrate the police force. Also, yesterday was the Seoul mayoral election. Do these two coincidences have something to do with the lack of media coverage here?
Or do people just not care? Is it not deemed newsworthy? This would be hard to believe. I shared this story with my foreigner coworkers, one of whom told the Korean teachers about it. They were all shocked and freaked out. So clearly, it seems people would care to know about this. It's also evidence that it truly isn't in the news, or at least one of them would have already heard about it. I mean, this hospital is really near to us. I've been there actually. In fact, at the very moment this was happening, I was only one subway stop away. And I never heard a word about it.
Another question that arises is the nature of these gangs themselves. What kind of gang fight of 130 people lasts 2 hours and results in only one stabbing? What kind of gang doesn't have guns? Another thing they say here is that 'there are no drugs in Korea'. Which of course can't be true, but for such a big city I have never seen evidence of drugs. In St Paul you'd occasionally see people who were clearly strung out or addicted to something. Plus of course media reports of drug busts (a lack of which, here, brings us back again to question #2 about media censorship). So the question is, what do they DO? Back home, gangs typically are related to drug dealing, illegal arms dealing, etc. But if they aren't dealing drugs and protecting their drug dealing territories, exactly why are they a gang? Are they selling weapons? There are very strict gun control laws here (as well as drug laws, much stricter here than the States. For example, a popular K-pop star was suspected of having smoked pot in Japan in April. In June, the police tested his hair and found trace amounts of it. But charges were not filed. The fact alone that they can DO this says a lot about the severity of drug-related offenses).
It seems unlikely that they are selling guns if not a single shot was fired during the fight. Are they doing human trafficking? That is possible but it seems like it wouldn't be related to a street gang in Incheon. Although of course it's possible, but that seems like it would be more centered in Seoul than out here.
The more I think about this situation the more curious it becomes to me. So many things seem off about it. I've often wondered about the nature of the media here. And the role of the government in controlling what is or is not reported on.
Also many of these questions bring up for me again those of the civil rights in Korea. In the US, the Bill of Rights is brought up time and time again and we all are pretty clear on what they are and how they apply to us in our lives. Here, clearly, they are different. It's a modern democratic society so i'm sure for the most part there are many similarities. But the seeming media censorship? The K-pop star being tested for drugs a month after suspected of doing them abroad? Another story I saw in which a man was arrested for blogging about pro-North Korea sentiments? These things all seem to be protected against by the US' Bill of Rights but here are clearly treated and viewed differently.
These are the subtleties that are difficult to pinpoint when talking about a foreign country but only become apparent when they occur in front of your eyes. They are the kinds of things that are ingrained in a society and those who grow up with it may not be able to identify them. But they are the most interesting and at times the most frustrating.
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