KMK: No Justice, No Piece of Mind

One of the latest uproars in the Korean blogging scene is the incident that happened a week and a half ago to Michael Hurt blogger of Metropolitican. Instead of rehashing the story, you can read all about it yourself by clicking the above link.

After I read his account of what happened I sat stunned with only one word rolling through my head: wow. It all seemed sort of unbelievable. We’re brought up to believe that if you follow the rules and do the right thing that the law and justice will be on your side. As his story proves that just isn’t true every time in every place.

I know that injustice happens. Just look at all the cases back in the States of prisoners being exonerated by DNA evidence. The hundreds of people who have been released are probably just the tip of the iceberg of innocents incarcerated for crimes they didn’t commit. The thing here is that based on the metropolitican’s story the police just didn’t arrest an innocent they arrested the victim. How backwards is that? How is it even possible?

Even back home, where the police are often looked at with suspcion in the black community (with good reason), something like this wouldn’t happen.

Metropolitican: Sober, Calm, employed, tax payer, Friends, pedestrians, café workers and customers as potential witnesses

Drunken Racist: Drunk, Belligerent, homeless, unemployed

It just doesn’t make sense. How is there even a choice here of who to believe? What sane person would take the word of a drunk over a sober person? Michael Hurt even had video!

I’ve only been in this country a very short time compared to some foreigners, but I’m hard pressed to believe that there are actual laws that exclude witness testiomony if the person is not Korean. I’ve seen the way foreigners are portrayed in the media; scapegoating an entire community based on the actions of a small handfull of lawbreaking louts(similar to the portrayal of black Americans back in the States). I just didn’t think it would go this far. Their behavior clearly sends the message that they don’t even consider foreigners as people.

Even more baffling though is that they did this to someone who, while being a foreigner, has ties to Korea. His mother is Korean. He speaks and writes Korean. If something like this can happen to him then I guess everyone is just screwed unless you’re a full blooded flag waving Korean. Though I find it hard to believe they would have treated Beyonce like that if that same drunken loser had been harassing her while she shopped in Seoul. It would’ve been all over the news and the world shaming would’ve started immediately. Bad, Korea, bad!

If this is indeed a systemic problem of the Korean legal system then a house cleaning is in order. How can a country expect to be taken seriously as an international leader and player on the world stage with incidents like this? I’m not just throwing stones. Everyone knows that in the States we have our Rodney Kings, but the difference is that when the injustice happens there is an outcry.

Hopefully Korea won’t wait for their own Rodney King experience before they to do something to change the way the legal system treats foreigners.