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Hello, reader! Today, we are covering: Index Zoom In Why Did Son Jung-min’s Case Go Viral in Korea? Slang Slang: 기레기 (Gilegi) This Week's Recommendations The Exclusive: Beat the Devil’s Tattoo (특종; 량첸살인기) Don't forget to leave your feedback below!
Why Did Son Jung-min’s Case Go Viral in Korea? Writer: Haram Lee Editor: Aleya Sharif Editor-in-Chief: Fred McNulty Researcher: Heejin Ahn, Yul Jun On April 25th, a college student named Son Jung-min went missing at Banpo Han River Park in Seoul. Five days later, he was found dead. The police investigation concluded that Son got drunk, had an unsteady gait, walked into the river by himself, then drowned. It was an accident, they concluded. However, some people were not satisfied with the final result arguing that there were some pieces of suspicion – such as his friend who left him at Han River Park – unsolved. Son’s case received nationwide attention, and a petition calling out for “justice” received more than 430,000 signatures. Around the same time, college student Lee Sun-ho died after being struck by a fallen container in Pyeongtaek Port. He tried to remove a piece of wood that was stuck in a container and was crushed by the container’s 300kg wing. As Son was, he also was a young student who had many dreams ahead. However, Lee’s case did not receive as much attention compared to Son’s. As shown in the graph below, keyword search trends for Son’s case received widespread public attention compared to that of Lee’s case. So here’s the real question: why is the public’s attention directed towards Son’s case?
Legend: Red: Lee Sun-ho, Green: Son Jung-min Social Media Savvy Father The main reason behind Son's case receiving prominent public attention was mostly thanks to his father, a blogger, who used his platform to spread the word about his son’s incident. Son’s father has run his own personal blog on Naver, South Korea’s largest portal, writing more than 800 posts on travel. He has 5,100 followers on his webpage, and his blog served as the epicenter of the Son case, which garnered attention from his post titled “Finding my missing son” (아들을 찾습니다) on April 28. In the past, families of victims of such events mostly took a passive and reserved approach and kept quiet about the details of the incidents. However, Son’s father was more vocal with his approach to spread the word around demanding justice for his son’s mysterious death. This in return garnered public sympathy and attention. Prestigious Educational Background Another significant reason Son’s case met widespread attention is due to the fact that he was a prospective medical student at Chung-Ang University – one of the top universities in South Korea – causing the public to feel the loss of a prospective talent within society. In addition, Son’s father is an alumnus of Yonsei University, one of the top three best universities in the country, and a director at Samsung C&T. All these factors led to keen interest from the public regarding Son’s tragic incident. Attending a top-notch university like Yonsei and working at Samsung, South Korea’s largest firm, entails an impression of an educational prodigy. Thus, this played an important role in garnering widespread public attention. The Peculiarity of the Location Workers dying on-site is relatively more common than going missing in a public space such as the Han River Park. This is why people were less interested in Lee’s death compared to Son’s. Lee died while he was working alone without his colleagues’ help. It was a preventable accident if someone helped him with the task, some people pointed out. There were people who signed a petition with the government for solutions to this, but Lee’s death did not develop into a nationwide controversy as many thought this kind of accident occurs often at many workplaces. However, when it comes to the case of Son, the location itself was something out of the ordinary. The Han River Park is a place where most people think of as a place of leisure, not a place of human casualty, thus sparking more concern over this case. Fake News Even after the official statement on Son’s case was out, some people did not believe in the story and started to believe YouTube videos as the truth. From their point of view, the government is hiding the truth behind this case and manipulating reality. However, many of the YouTube videos themselves were manipulated and distorted for immediate profits and have made many claims that were false. Also, unvalidated personal media on YouTube have contributed to the circulation of inaccurate accounts of the national news outlets. For example, when a national news channel interviewed an official who pointed out the non-existence of blood, unverified YouTube channels started to spread false information, such as that Son died because of hemorrhage, and that blood was found on the floor. This created widespread confusion within society, even to Son’s father himself. He claimed in an interview that he did not know whom to trust, with many internet users encouraging him to distrust the police, while others told him to trust the police and wait for the official result. In addition, unclear guidance from the government has only spread fake news even further. Seung Jae-hyun, a Korean Institute of Criminology representative, pointed out that it is necessary for police to provide explanations in response to the circulation of fake news or false speculation, however, they were slow to respond. As a result, Korea National Police is considering filing a trial against Youtubers and Internet users who spread false information. Some of them have organized fundraisers for Son’s father who was adamant to believe that his death was a homicide. However, he declined the fundraiser as it was planned against his will.
Korea National Police taking an action on a YouTube video with fake information by commenting Repercussions Due to such an unprecedented amount of public attention, and a large amount of personal and sensitive information presented by the media. To prevent any further misunderstandings, police have deployed many officers, detectives, and policemen for this case. Even though Korea National Police already had concluded that Son’s death was an accident, there were many people who did not believe it and kept blaming his friend for the responsibility. After multitudes of accusations from the public, Son’s friend made a statement through his legal guardian, calling out for an end to the spread of false accusations towards him.
People grieving over Son’s unexplained death. How Politicians Reacted Politicians have also urged for an in-depth investigation of Son’s death. Rep. Chu Ho-young and Rep. Kim Eun-hye from the People Power Party voiced such stance on a popular conservative YouTube channel called Shin-eui-han Su (신의한수). In addition, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is considering placing alcohol-free zones within Han River parks, since many people were caught drinking outside past 10 p.m., which goes against the rules set by the government amid the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the operation of restaurants past a certain curfew. Proponents argue that Son’s incident fueled the need for stricter rules, although some believe that this is a bit too extreme.
Today's Vocabulary 기레기 (Gilegi) Gilegi is a compound of two words, “reporter” (기자) and “trash” (쓰레기). This word is used to mock irresponsible reporters that spread information in their favor whether they are true or not. A: 와, 이 사람 또 이런 검증되지 않은 내용으로 기사를 쓰네. A: Wow, this person writes with unconfirmed details again. B: 정말 기레기야, 기레기! B: What a Gilegi! This Week's Recommendations Written by Danbi Kim The Exclusive: Beat the Devil’s Tattoo (특종; 량첸살인기, 2015) This movie deals with the irresponsible attitude of many members of the press. The main character mistakenly reports the identity of a suspected serial killer. Thanks to the exclusive bit of information, he is given a promotion at work and treated favorably amongst his coworkers. However, it is then revealed that the suspected serial killer was someone else. The real criminal then uses this misinformation to his advantage to commit more crimes. The core message can be summarized by this quote in the movie: “You know how the news works; if people believe it to be true, it is the truth.” (“뉴스란게 그런거잖아. 그들이 진실이라 믿으면 그게 진실인거야.”) Check it out on Netflix!
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