Miryang City announced that the new cultural complex ‘Bae-nyu’ officially began operations on April 4 located in Gyo-dong Hyanggyo and Goga Village has been established as part of the city’s cultural city project and is intended to serve as a rest and convenience space while preserving the aesthetics of traditional Hanok architecture The name ‘Bae-nyu’ refers to the image of sunlight filtering through a narrow gap the facility comprises three Hanok buildings totaling 922 square meters of floor space on a land area of 1,147 square meters It includes a craft exhibition and sales center traditional teas made with local agricultural products from Miryang the venue will host weekly programs every Saturday including performances by local artists and traditional tea experiences aiming to provide visitors with opportunities for both cultural enrichment and relaxation Read now > Sign up for our weekly newsletter of articles from Japan Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks Miryang recognized as the origin of Korean strawberries has recently celebrated its first export of the 'Strawberry 1943' brand to Thailand This event underscores the city's objective to expand its agricultural products on a global scale with a particular emphasis on its strawberries A ceremony held on January 15 at the Miryang Agricultural Technology Center marked the occasion shipping a total of 260 kilograms to Thailand through its subsidiary Miryang Agro Corporation has been designated as an Export Quarantine Zone setting up infrastructure that meets international standards for the sorting This development is pivotal for the entry of Miryang strawberries into the Thai market and serves as a foundation for further expansion into other key Asian markets with an ambitious export target of over 200 tons of strawberries annually benefit from the local climate's abundant sunshine and significant diurnal temperature variation around 1,200 farms cultivate strawberries over 540 hectares in Miryang with an annual production of approximately 17,000 tons The region's strawberries have already gained a foothold in the Asian market where 70 to 100 tons are exported annually The 'Strawberry 1943' brand pays homage to the origins of Korean strawberry cultivation initiated in 1943 by Song Jun-saeng with the planting of 10 strawberry seedlings from Japan in Miryang This move not only signifies the city's historical contribution to Korean agriculture but also represents Miryang's ambition to position its strawberries as a leading global agricultural brand As Miryang continues to focus on quality improvement and market expansion it aims to enhance regional agricultural growth and increase farmers' incomes Source: KoreaPost FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com A man surnamed Lee appears in an apology video posted on YouTube channel named ″Miryang The Glory″ on Sunday His identity was doxxed last month for his involvement in the 2004 Miryang gang rape case The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency building in Changwon South Gyeongsang [GYEONGNAM PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY] National Police arrest YouTubers who doxxed 2004 gang rape suspects South Korean police on Tuesday said they have arrested two YouTubers who revealed the identities of the suspects in a 2004 gang rape case in Miryang in a show of force against the self-proclaimed vigilantism that was opposed by the victim herself are under investigation for the doxxing that took place on their respective channels between June and August this year according to the cyber investigation unit of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police and even restaurants run by one of the Miryang suspect's family The two are accused of defamation as stipulated in the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection While the YouTubers' actions shone some light upon events surrounding the heinous crime against the underage victim two decades ago along with the unfair mistreatment she received from members of her community and the authorities the victim has stated that she is opposed to revealing the identity of the suspects The doxxing videos also affected people unrelated to the case as the YouTubers did not verify the information they had acquired online or via unconfirmed sources they posted information about people who had no connection to the gang rape case "The so-called 'cyber wreckers' spread unverified information to get attention and their reckless doxxing can cause severe damage (to the wrongly accused) and we will do our best to investigate this case," police said Officials are also investigating other YouTubers who revealed information about those allegedly related to the Miryang case "cyber wrecker" refers to a person who profits by posting rumors or negative news about celebrities several YouTube channels posted information about the suspected perpetrators of the Miryang gang rape case South Gyeongsang Province were found to have physically and sexually assaulted a then-14-year-old girl over a year None of the suspects were criminally charged on account of them being minors with no prior criminal record which was intensified with the revelation that the investigators handling the case asked inappropriate questions to the victim and mistakenly revealed her identity to the media the support group Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center held what became a successful fund-raiser for the victim who was revealed to have been experiencing financial hardship after the tragedy The plan to unify the candidacies of conservative People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo faces a rocky road Democratic Party alleges 'judiciary coup' threatens to impeach Supreme Court justices Korea’s Czech nuclear plant deal halted by court injunction Amazon Prime sign deal to increase K-content access Korea mark 60 years of ties with sculpture Respect wanes: Teaching no longer highly coveted job in S As unused homes increase in rural South Korea Supreme Court’s verdict sours Lee Jae-myung’s presidential bid Korean mothers are opting for C-sections at record rates South Koreans get creative with Parents’ Day gifts Costco’s steep membership hike tests loyalty of Korean shoppers Netflix's 'The Devil’s Plan' returns with star-packed season 2 Lee Jae-myung leads in hypothetical three-way race with Han Duck-soo who doxxed individuals allegedly involved in a high-profile sexual assault case that occurred around 20 years ago in Miryang was handed a three-year prison sentence by a lower court on April 18 National 2004 gang rape resurfaces in crusade to reveal alleged criminals' identities YouTuber plans to identify perpetrators behind 20-year-old case most of whom escaped punishment for being too young at the time The Miryang gang rape case of 2004 is widely remembered as one of the worst sex crime cases in South Korean history sparking nationwide furor for not only its brutality but also for victim blaming by the local community and what has been seen as a lack of proper punishment for those responsible were found to have taken part in the brutal physical and sexual assault of multiple underage victims over the course of a year The Ulsan District Prosecutors' Office requested prison terms for 10 of them while 20 were sent to a juvenile detention center Thirteen of those accused did not receive any form of punishment after reaching a settlement with the victim Sex crime laws at the time required the victim to file charges for the perpetrator to be punished One other boy of the 44 faced separate charges but ultimately none of them received criminal punishment The perpetrators for the heinous crime may have escaped punishment from the court but two decades later they are facing the court of public opinion A few of the perpetrators have had their identities apparently disclosed to the public recently A YouTuber on Monday disclosed the identity of a man surnamed Shin who is alleged to be one of those responsible in the Miryang case and to have changed his name and worked selling cars Shin changed his Instagram page to private and attempted to go off the grid "We are taking this situation very seriously and the person in question has been fired," the company said on its Instagram page on Tuesday another YouTube video revealed that one suspect surnamed Park is married has a daughter and is running a successful restaurant with his family Local media reports showed that the restaurant in question had temporarily ceased operation on Monday after another allegation that it has violated construction law The Miryang case was comparable to the plot of a horror film as it inspired multiple movies and TV dramas in the two decades since It started when a middle school girl surnamed Choi dialed a wrong number in June 2003 stumbling upon a conversation with a high school boy surnamed Kim The two became acquainted over the next six months via online chats after which Kim invited Choi to his hometown to hang out Choi agreed and visited Miryang in January 2004 What followed was a horrid series of sexual and physical abuse to which even Choi's older sister got roped in It was later revealed that Kim was a member of the "Miryang Coalition," a group responsible for raping five underage victims The boys constantly misled and deceived the victims to prevent them from reaching out for help and it was only after Choi's aunt got the truth out of her in late 2004 that the crimes started to come to light Forty-four boys were held responsible for the gang rapes but it is believed some 75 more aided their crime such as keeping lookout or filming the inhumane actions The alleged accomplices did not receive any form of punishment Reports show that not only were the victims unprotected by the local community they were also subject to severe victim blaming in the aftermath An organization under the name Counseling Service for Rape Victims in Miryang in 2005 conducted a survey of 645 residents of the city on the topic of who was to blame for the gang rape case to which 64 percent answered "it was the girl's fault." A 2005 episode of the MBC documentary series "News Who" conducted interviews in Miryang which showed multiple people who thought the victim should be blamed for her own gang rape receiving money and settling," one resident said Another told reporters that "a well brought-up girl wouldn't go out at night like that." Such absurdity extended beyond the residents as police officers were reported to also have uttered words seen as victim blaming One officer from Miryang accused Choi of "spoiling everything" in the city when she was not even a local while another accused the girl's sister of lying The victims' requests to talk to a female officer were ignored and they were forced to sit in the same interrogation room with the boys and pinpoint who was responsible who had been subject to 11 months of torture even had her identity revealed to the public and her family was left unprotected from threats and verbal abuse from families of the perpetrators The Supreme Court in 2008 ordered the state to pay compensation for the damage and distress caused by police which included the aforementioned problematic comments during interrogation and officials leaking the victims’ information to the press It was reported in 2007 that after moving to Seoul Choi attempted multiple times to take her own life and she was harassed by her alcoholic father and relatives who pressured her to settle with the suspects Her efforts to transfer to another school were reportedly thwarted many times due to school officials’ reluctance to accept the victim of a sex crime and her life after the incident remains mostly unknown lawyer Gang Ji-won -- who represented Choi pro bono at the time -- said the trauma from the incident left her needing psychological treatment Gang said the Choi family was forced to live in hiding afterward falling out of contact even with the lawyer himself The alleged criminals behind the Miryang incident are now in their mid to late 30s Some of them hold stable jobs and have families of their own who posted on his Instagram page that he would be "a trustful father" and "will get rid of everything that gets in the way" of his daughter One purported suspect was caught working as a loan shark in 2018 and sentenced to an eight-month prison term Most of the former underage rapists remain hidden in anonymity but the recent revelations by local YouTubers show that their crimes are not forgotten or forgiven by the general public the identity of another alleged criminal behind the Miryang case was revealed by a different YouTuber than previously mentioned He was found to be an employee of a large corporation which temporarily removed him duties while verifying the recent allegations director of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center which represents the victims of the 2004 Miryang gang rape case talks during a press briefing held in Mapo District A list of videos uploaded by a YouTuber who revealed the identities of the assailants in the Miryang gang rape case in 2004 [SCREEN CAPTURE] A list of videos re-uploaded on Sunday by a YouTuber who revealed the alleged identities of the assailants in the Miryang gang rape case in 2004 [SCREEN CAPTURE] Visitors attend a cultural festival held at the now-closed Miryang National University [MIRYANG CITY] Visitors attend a local sports festival hosted by Miryang City [MIRYANG CITY] National Fundraiser set for victim of Miryang gang rape A civic group supporting victims of sex crimes kicked off a fundraiser on Thursday in support of a victim in the infamous 2004 Miryang gang rape case which has resurfaced recently following multiple YouTubers revealing the information of some of the alleged suspects over 57 million won ($41,000) had been raised from over 1,400 people in the campaign set up by the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center at its homepage One can participate in the fundraising via the pop-up banner on the Korean version of the homepage through various means The fundraiser has already far surpassed the initial goal of raising 30 million won The group said all the money raised in is to be delivered to the victim and her family It is not clear how long the fundraiser will continue The group said it will discuss the matter with the victim and her family and decide when to wrap up the fundraiser early next week The KSVRC on Thursday held a press conference to reiterate that the primary victim in the case -- a 14-year-old girl at the time of the incident -- did not want and had not consented to the related information being made public Several YouTubers have recently published videos revealing the personal information of alleged perpetrators in the gang rape claiming to have obtained the victim's consent YouTuber Pan-seug deleted related videos after the statement also took down many videos that initially stirred controversy But in the most recent video released late Tuesday the YouTuber vowed to continue to post new videos stressed that the victim never wanted the incident to resurface as she urged the public to see things from the victim's point of view "The problem is that (the videos) did not consider what the recent events would do to the victims," she said once again urging the videos to be taken down The victim and her family did not attend Thursday's press conference but expressed appreciation for the public's concern along with their wishes that the recent revelation of suspects' information not end up hurting the victims again "There had been times when we wanted to die and were depressed sometimes crying like a crazy person or just lying on our back absent-mindedly We did feel a little bit better when we saw the support of people who we have never even seen and we thank you for not forgetting (about the incident)," the victim and her family expressed in a statement Considered among the worst sexual violence cases in history the Miryang incident involved 44 high school boys in the small South Gyeongsang Province city who were accused of physically and sexually assaulting the then-teenage victim over the course of a year While some of the teens were sent to adolescent correctional institutes sending waves of public furor throughout the country An investigation found that four other teenage girls had also been raped by the perpetrators While 44 boys are believed to have directly been involved in the sexual attacks some 75 other teens are also believed to have aided them A list of videos that allegedly identify perpetrators and accomplices in the 2004 Miryang Case uploaded on the Narak Bogwanso A YouTuber who was put on trial for revealing the personal information of those who were identified as perpetrators of the 2004 Miryang middle school girl group sexual assault was sentenced to prison Chief Judge Woo Sang-beom of the Changwon District Court sentenced Ahn (20s) the operator of the YouTube channel "executive" accused of violating the law on the promotion of the use of information and communication networks (defamation) and obstructing business to three years in prison and ordered 5.66 million won to be collected a YouTube channel video producer who was also indicted was sentenced to two and a half years in prison "Our society has reached a point where we cannot tolerate the phenomenon of waiting and seeing fake information through YouTube or SNS," adding "We need to secure minimum reliability through strict punishment." "Ahn paid a total of 40 million won and Cho paid a total of 15 million won to the victims or deposited them." Ahn and others were put on trial from June to August last year on charges of unauthorized disclosure of the personal information of the perpetrators of the Miryang sexual assault case on YouTube channels He is also accused of obstructing the business by disclosing the restaurant run by the family of the person who was identified as the perpetrator of the Miryang sexual assault case As a result of the investigation by the investigative agency Ahn and others produced the video by collecting data obtained through unconfirmed reports or Internet searches as the public's interest in the Miryang sexual assault case increased it caused damage by disclosing the personal information of people who were not related to the actual case It is known that about 20 victims were involved the video related to the Miryang sexual assault case has been deleted from the "executive" channel Most of the YouTubers who disclosed the perpetrators' personal information in connection with the Miryang sexual assault case were under prosecution investigation or handed over to trial more than 1,200 complaints and complaints have been filed with the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency regarding the disclosure of the identity of the Miryang sexual assault case The police have so far completed the case of 559 out of 790 people subject to investigation by sending and withdrawing the petition four of whom were handed over to the prosecution in custody head of the cyber investigation at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency "We will do our best to investigate as the indiscriminate disclosure of personal information of so-called 'cyber-recursors' that spread unconfirmed facts to attract issues." a YouTuber channel "Battle Rabbit" operator who disclosed the identity of the perpetrator was handed over to trial on charges of violating the law on promoting the use of information and communication networks (defamation) and is set to be sentenced on the 23rd of next month the prosecution demanded a five-year prison term for A in a final trial the operator of the YouTube channel "Narak Archives," which first revealed the identity of the perpetrator of the Miryang sexual assault case was sent to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office in October last year and is currently under investigation ※ This service is provided by machine translation tool Korea.net hosts networking event for Honorary Reporters Accord with Japan to protect both nations' people abroad A bilateral agreement with Japan will bolster cooperation in protecting the nationals of both nations abroad Click here to read more about the latest summit between leaders of both countries Talks with NZ seek to upgrade ties to strategic partnership Korea and New Zealand have agreed to advance talks on elevating the bilateral Partnership for the 21st Century concluded Korea and New Zealand have agreed to advance talks on elevating the bilateral Partnership for the 21st Century concluded in 2006 to a comprehensive strategic partnership Mixed boccia pair to face Hong Kong for Paralympic gold the Jeong-Kang pair will face in the final Hong Kong in mixed pair BC3 boccia 🌕 S-Tier food for Chuseok 🌕 | K-Cuisine Relay | Ep.28 Galbijjim & Samsaeknamul “Reading is so sexy!” — Headlined by The Guardian (UK)　| Balance Talk | Ep Korean German architect in Seoul seeks to innovate Hanok Grassroots group seeks to clean up trash from Jeju waters Polish capital hosts Korean cultural event at Breakfast Market Hanbok-clad children play traditional games President Yoon attends opening of Cyber Summit Korea Descendants of Korean War veterans attend event in Incheon Multicultural families attend Chuseok event Address by President Yoon Suk Yeol on the 79th Liberation Day Keynote Address by President Yoon Suk Yeol at the NATO Public Forum K-pop management innovation changes global music industry Korea-French friendship to drive future partnership Denmark's digital strategy to preserve global democracy 10th workshop of European Association for Korean Language Education (EAKLE) PNP launches TOP COP special class to enhance tourist safety K-Culture Extravaganza Lights Up Jozi: Korean Cultural Centre Unveils ‘Travelling Korea’ Korean Restaurant to open soon in Abuja-Envoy Jusung Gabriel Park & Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra Production Design: Scene Architects Build On-Screen Worlds National Victim of Miryang gang rape never consented to revealing suspects' identities: group A local YouTuber's quest to reveal the identities of 44 men responsible for a 2004 Miryang gang rape case has faced opposition from a local women's rights group which disclosed late Wednesday that the YouTuber never got the consent of the crime's principal victim The Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center said in a press release that the YouTuber's claim to have "communicated with the victim's family via mail and agreed to reveal (identity) of all 44" is not true "The victim of the 2004 sexual attack case was completely unaware (of the disclosure) until the YouTuber posted the first video and was not approached for her consent," the group said "Both the KSVRC and the victim express concern for unilaterally decided uploading of the videos and the race to get more views which is far from honoring the victim's wishes or helping her get back to a normal life," the group said the YouTuber deleted the notice on the channel claiming to have received the consent of the victim's family were found to have taken part in physical and sexual assault over the course of a year most of the crimes were committed against one girl and the non-government group has been supporting her The case became notorious not only for the severity of the crime but also for the widespread victim-blaming in the local community and the fact that none of the boys got criminal punishment due to their age The recent revelations by the aforementioned YouTuber and others have brought the case back to the surface After the YouTuber in question revealed the identity of someone he claimed was one of the attackers multiple Internet users started saying that a woman running a nail polishing business in Miryang was his girlfriend But it was later found that the woman had nothing to do with the alleged criminal and the YouTuber told his subscribers to stop online attacks on her four men thought to be perpetrators in the Miryang case -- all born between 1986 and 1988 -- had their identities revealed along with a female police officer who at the time wrote an online post that was seen as favorable toward the perpetrators All of them had been subject to severe criticism from the public and one was temporarily removed from his duties National Gang rape victim's sister speaks against doxxing suspects The younger sister of the victim in the 2004 Miryang gang rape case has recently spoken out against YouTubers disclosing the identities of the perpetrators alleging the victim had never consented to making them public The sister wrote a post in online used car community Bobae Dream on Sunday with a screenshot of text messages exchanged between her and local YouTuber Pan-seug who has been uploading videos revealing the personal information of the alleged perpetrators of the Miryang incident The image showed the sister repeatedly requesting the videos to be deleted on behalf of the victim to which Pan-seug responded hours later by asking her to wait She claimed that the YouTuber had uploaded the videos without the consent of the victim using a recording of his telephone conversation with the victim seven months earlier South Gyeongsang Province were found to have taken part in physically and sexually assaulting a then-14-year-old girl over the course of a year none of the 44 perpetrators were criminally charged after the police investigation and trial as they were deemed "minors with no prior criminal record." The case has resurfaced in recent weeks as multiple vigilante YouTubers started doxxing the alleged perpetrators online claiming that they had obtained the victim's consent to do so But the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center a group that has been supporting the victim said last Wednesday she never was asked for her prior consent to the personal information being released The sister said the victim suffers from an intellectual disability that she had not been diagnosed with back in 2004 She said the victim only remembers part of the incident and is "currently suffering from a YouTube video about which she has no memory of." Pan-seug issued an apology to the victim and her family through a notice on his channel Monday although he expressed confusion at the victim's stance as he claimed she had urged him to punish the perpetrators of the incident Pan-seug has deleted all related videos as of Monday Another YouTuber by the name of Narack Bogwanso had also uploaded videos about the Miryang perpetrators but deleted the videos last Friday when it was revealed that the victim had not consented to the videos Narack Bogwanso then posted the videos again the next day claiming that the younger brother of the victim had agreed to have the information disclosed Such acts of publicizing videos doxxing the alleged perpetrators but without the consent of the victim have sparked debate here Criticism has been directed at the YouTubers in particular who reposted the videos after taking them down writing in the community section of his channel that although the victim's sister had requested they be taken down the victim's brother had said they should be made public The Korea Communications Standards Commission said Monday that it plans to discuss Narack Bogwanso's case at its meeting Thursday The committee can only make a request about the videos to YouTube since the video-sharing platform is not a local firm Narack Bogwanso wrote on his channel Monday that he plans to continue uploading videos related to Miryang regardless of the commission’s review The identity of the perpetrators of the Miryang female middle school girl group sexual assault has been disclosed for the first time in 20 years anger is pouring out against the perpetrators who are living well the parents of the perpetrator's parents at the time of the incident are also being highlighted again online communities and other sites posted articles and photos titled "Interview with Parents of Sexual Slavery in Miryang." The contents of the suspect's parents' interview with the media are mixed "Why should I feel sorry for the victim's family?" and then said Don't you think we're damaged now?" he asks we need to raise them well and make sure this doesn't happen," he said "There's no boy who doesn't fall for it when the girls come and tail." "It's not that people can't talk because they don't have a mouth right now." "I'm really angry even when I see it again," and "How can you say that?" The assault of a group of middle school girls in Miryang is a case in which 44 male students sexually assaulted a female middle school student in Miryang The perpetrators were born between 1986 and 1988 and are known to have been high school students at the time of the crime The prosecution indicted some who directly participated in the sexual assault and sent or released the rest to the juvenile department Ten people who were indicted were also sent to the juvenile department the following year Not a single one of the 44 people was criminally punished The case is attracting attention again as YouTube's "Arrow Archive" has found and released the perpetrators since the 1st "The mastermind of the Miryang sexual assault ○○○ you must have thought I couldn't find it?" revealed that he was working at a restaurant introduced as a "Jongwon Baek restaurant" in Cheongdo-gun Not only was the perpetrator's identity known but the restaurant where he worked was closed he said he was the perpetrator of the case and released detailed information such as C's face photo C was working at an imported car showroom in Gyeongnam The operator said he has three imported cars and lives in luxury was found to have been dismissed as of the 4th As the identity of the perpetrators was revealed one by one some argued that the rest of the perpetrators were reporting on other perpetrators to the abyss storage center The operator said in a post comment on the 4th the perpetrators of the Miryang incident are reporting to each other." who was summoned again for the first time in 20 years who was in front of the "I want to know" camera said he only knew that all 44 perpetrators were punished and the victim's brother said he was afraid that the perpetrators would take revenge a shocking incident in which 44 male high school students in Miryang collectively sexually assaulted a middle school girl for a year which has been produced in movies or dramas A YouTuber falsely claimed to have obtained the consent of the victim and disclosed the personal information of the perpetrators sparking controversy over so-called private sanctions While SBS's "I Want to Know That," which will be broadcast on the 20th deals with the Miryang sexual assault case under the title of "Fixed Crimes and Deleted Punishment-2004 Group Sexual Violence Case," the victim spoke directly "There have been requests to cover the recent status of 44 perpetrators but the reason why they never dealt with the case was that the victim who had been in constant contact with the production team who was unintentionally summoned into a strong storm 20 years after the incident stood in front of the camera with his younger brother the victim said he thought all 44 people were punished at the time I was young and didn't even know how the case was going and I thought everyone would be punished if we had our statement." The victim and sister thought all 44 perpetrators who had stated at the time of the investigation were punished but they first learned that not a single one was criminally punished after reading some of the case records recently released on the Internet 34 out of 44 people were not indicted and only 10 were indicted and handed over to trial and even that was sent to the Juvenile Department of the Family Court and confirmed to have received only some protective treatment Netizens are angry that the perpetrators were not punished properly at the time but the victims' sisters were in another fear Regarding YouTubers' disclosure of the perpetrator's identity "I'm still living in hell and I was scared," adding but maybe the perpetrators are taking revenge..." Public anger is spreading in an uncontrollable way called "disclosure of perpetrators' personal information." "The reason why the sisters were interviewed in fear and anxiety was that they just wanted to know how the case investigation and trial proceeded at the time," the "Gal" said Amid the revelation of the perpetrator's identity by YouTubers a video of a man's public apology recently came up it has not been officially confirmed whether the man is actually one of the perpetrators of the incident "I Want to Know That" Miryang sexual assault case will air at 11:10 p.m All Headlines North Korea Sports Top News Most Viewed Korean Newspaper Headlines Today in Korean History Yonhap News Summary Editorials from Korean Dailies July 22 (Yonhap) -- Police have referred eight people to the prosecution for indictment on charges of disclosing the personal information of rapists behind a notorious gang rape case in the southern city of Miryang 20 years ago The identity disclosures were seen as an act of taking the law into their own hands in the gang rape case that sparked massive public outrage amid perceptions that the assailants were not properly punished due in part to their young ages The case dates back to 2004 when 44 high school students gang raped five girls two of them middle school students and the three others high school girls But the perpetrators were either spared from indictment after settlement with the victims or punished only with juvenile penalties that leave no criminal record The case was recently brought to public attention again after several YouTube channels disclosed the identities of the perpetrators in the case raising concerns over private punishment without resorting to the due process of law those featured in the videos filed a complaint against the YouTubers and bloggers accusing them of defamation by publishing their personal information without permission the police referred eight people to the prosecution on related charges The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency had received a total of 469 complaints on this case as of last week 192 people are considered subjects of questioning shows YouTube comments praising the disclosure of the identities of perpetrators behind a gang rape case in the southern city of Miryang 20 years ago All News National Economy/Finance Biz Culture/K-pop Images Videos Korean Newspaper Headlines Korea in Brief Useful Links Weather Advertise with Yonhap News Agency in which 44 male high school students sexually assaulted a middle school girl for a year was re-examined for the first time in 20 years and the results of the appeals court in Chungju group sexual assault case According to the legal community on the 19th the criminal department 1 (chief judge Park Eun-young) of the Cheongju District Court of the Daejeon High Court reversed the court's original ruling that acquitted five people on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes and sentenced them to two and a half years in prison and three years of probation the appeals court sentenced three people who were sentenced to three and a half years to five years in prison in the first trial to two and a half years to four years in prison saying they were recognized for their efforts to compensate for the damage the same acquittal as the original trial was maintained saying it is difficult to say that the crime has been sufficiently proven The appeals trial drew attention from local political circles as the father of one of the defendants was known to be the cause of Chungju City were put on trial in October 2020 when they were high school students on charges of mass rape of a middle school girl of their age whom they had known at a lodging facility in Chungju They ignored the victim's request to be sent home several times It is reported that he sexually assaulted her by saying "Take off your clothes" and "Let's do it quickly." The parents of the victim were brought to justice three to four years after the crime as they filed a complaint against the perpetrators with the investigative agency The first trial court acquitted six out of nine people saying the victim's statements were inconsistent and the crime was not proven enough to be guilty which were found not guilty in the first trial the prosecution appealed by adding a charge of violating the law on the protection of children and adolescents' sex (such as hierarchy) to the preliminary indictment were not in a relationship that could have sexual intercourse under agreement with the victim and that the victim seemed to have taken advantage of the fact that he was afraid of the perpetrators' behavior," adding "It is difficult to say that it was under agreement given that more than two people committed adultery in the same space and had sex sadistically." South Korean food manufacturer Samyang Foods is set to build its first overseas plant in China in a strategic move to bolster its global presence with its spicy Buldak ramyeon the company unveiled plans for a 201.4 billion won ($139 million) manufacturing facility in Jiaxing The six-line production plant is slated for completion in January 2027 The food company will invest 64.7 billion won to establish a subsidiary in Singapore by late 2025 and then create an entity in China to manage the construction and financing of the new production facility The ramyeon manufacturer stated that this move is a strategic initiative to strengthen its local responsiveness and advance localization efforts in the Chinese market “The manufacturing plant’s output is solely intended for the Chinese domestic market,” a company official explained China stands as the food company's largest overseas market “China primarily imports our Buldak products,” the company official said adding that the flagship Buldak line accounts for 70 percent of the company’s overall revenue The company’s third-quarter sales were up 31 percent on-year International sales accounted for 78 percent of the quarterly revenue which surged 43 percent on-year to 342.8 billion won With accumulated sales exceeding 1.2 trillion won in the first three quarters the company has surpassed the 1.19 trillion won revenue recorded last year all ramyeon products for international markets are manufactured in Korea with the Miryang factory in South Gyeongsang Province handling Chinese exports since 2022 The second factory under construction in Miryang scheduled to open in the first half of next year will target the US market and increase the company's annual ramyeon production capacity from 1.8 billion to 2.5 billion units A man who was identified as one of the perpetrators of the Miryang group sexual assault reportedly wrote a handwritten apology and sent donations to the victim the YouTube channel 'Battle Rabbit' released a video titled 'The First Apology of Park OO The video contains a two-page handwritten apology that the combat rabbit received from Park "I am afraid and regretful that no matter what I say I'm careful because I think it would be rude to do it myself," he said I committed a crime that will not be erased for the rest of my life," he wrote "I'm sorry that you've been in pain even now." he was handed over to trial on special charges of forced harassment and after reaching an agreement with the victim he was disposed of first and third and served as a community," he said I didn't think it would be a problem 20 years later." Rather if I had been punished properly and apologized at that time I think the anger of the victims and the people would have been a little less," he regretted "I was frustrated by those incidents and was in vain "I was surprised when my picture was released on YouTube and my misdeeds were talked about but I realized again that I was like this." "I am so sorry and sorry to my parents who had undergone cancer surgery after only farming without eating out for the rest of their lives," and vowed Park attached a receipt for donating 2 million won to the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center as "designated support for victims of the illegal sexual violence case." but I will support the victim little by little in the name of the settlement money." The Miryang group sexual assault was a case in which 44 high school students in Miryang lured an Ulsan middle school girl to Miryang in December 2004 and raped her continuously for a year indicted 10 of the perpetrators (7 arrested and 3 without detention) Twenty people were sent to the juvenile department and the remaining perpetrators were either agreed with the victim or were not included in the complaint so the decision was made "no right to appeal." A new tourist resort complex was recently opened in Miryang where you can experience leisure and healing in a space such as golf Sunshine Miryang Theme Park is emerging as a new tourist hot spot with a cumulative number of visitors approaching 200,000 in two months It consists of six public facilities created by Miryang City a private-funded golf course (18 holes) and a resort (scheduled) and ecotourism are combined to bring together facilities that can be enjoyed by men and women of all ages Nature Ecorium is a representative place to enjoy with children and experience programs of Miryang ecotourism and contents using various media such as video and model The artificial wetland hall and the four-season ecological playground are built together attracting tourists from educational institutions and families the ecological playground has opened a children's water play facility Various experience programs have also been prepared including the "Science of Finding Answers in Nature" ecological learning program which has been in operation since the 25th Rural theme parks are also loved by family tourists with young children is so popular that 62,000 people visited in the first half of the year It also operates a cooking class where you can experience various dishes using Miryang agricultural products the children's nutrition cookie making program will be operated twice a day allowing all families to enjoy it with children during the vacation is the only wellness space in Korea where you can experience authentic Indian yoga and meditation As it provides differentiated services under various themes such as yoga and meditation experience rooms and Ayurveda foot spa there is a flood of inquiries from organizations such as companies and schools and yoga people including international yoga leadership courses Indian national accreditation certificates which can be enjoyed by both companion and non-companion is receiving great response from children for various experience programs such as playing cats it has been operating a water swimming pool for dogs it plans to provide various contents such as professional certificate programs such as pet general managers and experiential learning vocational education programs is a cultural tourism-type local food market that combines sales and tourism such as agricultural and forestry direct stores The first floor of the main building is a space that sells Miryang's fresh and clean concentrated forest products and the second floor consists of a high-quality Miryang livestock restaurant and a shabu-shabu restaurant used as Miryang food ingredients a local food direct marketplace that informs and sells local agricultural products is receiving great response from tourists The theme park operates a summer Pungdang Children's Water Playground to provide a cool resting place for tourists during the summer vacation season and training centers have become famous for their excellent facilities emerging as a mecca for various competitions and off-season training for athletes from all over the country 47 teams and 2,000 people will participate to open the 58th National University Baseball Competition and many sportsmen are expected to visit the theme park "We are preparing various events and programs for tourists visiting the theme park during the summer vacation season to make pleasant and happy memories," and added "We will always try to become a tourist destination we want to visit again." The 66th Miryang Arirang Festival will take place over four days starting on May 23rd at Yeongnamru Pavilion and along the Miryang River under the theme ‘Dream of Yeongnamru Pavilion which began in 1957 to commemorate the major repairs of Yeongnamru is a significant cultural event in Gyeongnam province the festival celebrates its 66th anniversary and has been recognized as one of the government’s ‘Culture and Tourism Festivals In commemoration of Yeongnamru’s re-elevation to national treasure status after 60 years the festival will feature various programs and performances that highlight the artistic value and essence of Arirang The Miryang Arirang Festival celebrates the Miryang Arirang folk song through various experiences Visitors can enjoy the history and beauty of the song at the Arirang Theme Hall The Miryang River Odyssey offers a unique blend of multimedia show and musical performance highlighting the stories of Miryang’s important figures the Arirang Maze leads to Arirang Wonderland where missions help visitors learn about Miryang’s culture and nature the festival culminates with the 23rd anniversary Miryang Arirang Song Festival at 6:40 p.m on Sunday featuring aspiring singers alongside renowned artists like Kim Yeon-ja Visitors can also enjoy a variety of experiences A woman who became a police officer after being close to the perpetrator at the time and defending them is also attracting attention again as the identity of the person who led the "group sexual assault of secret middle school girls" case spread rapidly the YouTube channel "Paradise Archive" released the personal information of A who is suspected to be the main driver of the unknown incident "We are still following the perpetrators on social networking services (SNS)," he said the restaurant A runs with a relative is known to be a famous restaurant that even the CEO of Jongwon Baek Durbon Korea has visited who wrote an advocacy article on a perpetrator's mini-hompi guest book I heard that all of us came out except for three.I heard X is ugly he leaves a post that seems to comfort the perpetrator who passed the police civil service examination in 2010 and is known to be working at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency has been under fire along with the perpetrators whenever the Miryang incident comes to the surface when complaints flooded the bulletin board of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency "I am truly sorry for hurting the victim and his family through my childhood mistakes and I will sleep with the burden of my life." as the Miryang incident was re-examined with the drama "Signal" in 2016 the bulletin board on the website of the Uiryeong Police Station was flooded with articles criticizing B again and the bulletin board of the Uiryeong Police Station is being plastered with articles about B again with the video of the "Narrow Archive." the bulletin board of the National Police Agency in the anonymous community blind of office workers was posted with titles such as "The Secret Incident is Coming Up Again" and "The Secret Policewoman is likely to suffer until retirement." Only users who belong to the National Police Agency can post or view the bulletin board various opinions were exchanged over the female police officer A "Did you still retire?" "Only the police are being criticized again," and "If you have a conscience "Wouldn't the people be worried if they would be well protected if they reported a crime to such a person?" and added "It's wrong to receive a rotten apology in the first place But I didn't throw away that rotten apple on time so all the apples next to me were rotten," he pointed out "We should throw it away now or throw it away on our own The victim lives in pain that he cannot get out of for the rest of his life "It is disastrous just to be in a job where such a person should be respected." "Are you telling me to die if I bully someone every few years that I should be held accountable for what I did at a immature time not directly participating?" and "It is morally reprehensible but it is too much to do this for not doing illegal activities and for doing wrong things." the Miryang sexual assault case in 2004 was a case in which 44 high school students in Miryang lured a middle school girl in Ulsan and raped her for a year and 13 were decided not to have the right to indict citing agreements with victims and non-complaint A YouTuber who has been discovering and exposing the perpetrators of the Miryang female middle school girl group sexual assault for the first time in 20 years claimed to have a list of all the perpetrators The operator of the YouTube channel "Arrow Archive" said "Shouldn't all 44 (perpetrators) have collected data and started uploading the video?" If this is the case the rest of them will likely be wiped off their traces and dived," he said in a brief response It is a case in which 44 male high school students sexually assaulted a female middle school student for a year The perpetrators are known to have been born between 1986 and 1988 the prosecution indicted some of the perpetrators who directly participated in the sexual assault It was revealed that none of the 44 people had a criminal record the Abyss Storage Center has found and disclosed the perpetrators of this case It was also known that the restaurant was operating in a building that was reported to have been destroyed a woman who wrote an advocacy article on a perpetrator's mini-homepage guestbook in 2004 "Did it work out well?" he said in December 2004 at the then-mini-hompee I heard that all but three of us came out.Only you because he leaves a message that seems to console the perpetrator who passed the police officer examination in 2010 and is known to be working at the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency has been criticized along with the perpetrators every time the Miryang case comes to the surface the website bulletin board of the police station where B works was flooded with complaints from Internet users the "Arrow Archive" released detailed information such as C's face photo netizens flocked to C's account and protested you will be punished sweetly," "I am not at fault," "Please stop the witch hunt without evidence," and "It's unfair." A man who was identified as the third perpetrator of the Miryang group sexual assault was reportedly temporarily issued by a large company where he was working a video titled 'Battle Rabbit' was uploaded on the YouTube channel 'Battle Rabbit' titled 'The third public perpetrator in secret ○○○ You were doing well with good luck?' The combat rabbit introduced was a close friend and right-hand man of another perpetrator who worked at an imported car exhibition hall in Gyeongnam." B is known to be the second perpetrator on YouTube's "Arrow Archive" whose recent status has been disclosed The combat rabbit also revealed A's workplace "A is currently working for a large company," he said "We disclose basic information such as name but please avoid calling a protest where it is not related to A." decided that it was impossible to perform the work and issued a temporary issuance measure for A and plans to further confirm whether A was a related person in the case at the time there are also voices expressing concern about the indiscriminate spread of misinformation The YouTube channel "Narak Archives," which released the first and second perpetrators of the Miryang group sexual assault posted on its YouTube community on the same day saying that the video of a combat rabbit about the third perpetrator had information that was different from the truth (A) is a person who joined the army with B and is the perpetrator but some information is not correct," the Narak Archives said "I also misunderstood the combat rabbit and told him not to call his workplace It's a pity that something seems to go against the purpose little by little," he said the Miryang incident took place in Miryang and 44 male students sexually assaulted a female middle school student for a year The perpetrators are known to be high school students born between 1986 and 1988 the prosecution indicted some who directly participated in the sexual assault the 10 accused were also sent to the juvenile department the following year At the rose garden on the banks of the Miryang River in Sammun-dong built on an area of ​​6,400 m2 in the area around 435-4 Sammun-dong is growing into a tourist attraction visited by not only citizens but also many visitors from nearby areas with over 35,000 roses in full bloom since late May The city recently planted about 400 roses and refurbished old rest facilities so that visitors to the rose garden can relax and enjoy them comfortably A man named as one of the perpetrators of the "massive sexual assault of a middle school girl in secret" eventually was fired from his job an electronics manufacturer based in Gimhae announced on the company's official website that "the employee has been dismissed in connection with the socially controversial incident." saying he was the 12th perpetrator of the Miryang sexual assault case The video contained specific information such as B's name it has not yet been confirmed whether B is actually a participant in the Miryang group rape case there was also a firestorm at his workplace Company A was a KOSDAQ-listed company and led to the denunciation of shareholders articles such as "This is the company that hired Miryang rape criminals" and "a place to protect rape criminals." Stock investors' calls for dismissal of the employee continued to grow the company announced in its first notice on the 12th "We have internally issued a waiting order for the employee in relation to an incident that is a social issue," and added "We will take personnel measures based on facts." the reaction of "magnetic response" continued and eventually Company A decided to fire B the collective rape of a middle school girl in Miryang was a case in which 44 high school boys sexually assaulted a middle school girl for a year in 2004 but not one of the perpetrators was criminally punished due to the judiciary's hasty investigation and soft punishment the case has been re-examined as the identity of the perpetrator of the Miryang sexual assault has been revealed through some YouTube channels the wrong person was identified as the perpetrator and there was also a controversy over private sanctions A series of personal revelations about the perpetrators of the 2004 "Milyang Middle School Girl Group Sexual Violence" have recently sparked outrage online the fact that the late actor Choi Jin-sil provided financial support to the victim's middle school girl is being re-examined who helped victims of sexual assault in Miryang in 2004" are rapidly spreading in many online communities The article is about the interview of lawyer Kang Ji-won who defended Choi when he was sued by a construction company in the past for violating his duty to maintain dignity lawyer Kang Ji-won was in charge of the legal representation of A a victim of the Miryang group sexual assault case "Isn't it a preferential treatment for famous celebrities?" and lawyer Kang eventually decided to receive a fee from Choi it was decided to provide the fees received from Choi as a donation to help Miss A Lawyer Kang said in a monthly interview with Chosun in June 2016 "After the smuggling case was reported to the media I moved my mother and two daughters to Seoul because I thought I had to evacuate Ms "There was no school that accepted the victim so I transferred to a high school after complaining to the Office of Education." I asked Choi Jin-sil to prepare 10 million won instead of the fee to give me so I sent 5 million won to the sexual violence counseling center and sent the rest to Ms "Choi Jin-sil is in a similar situation to the victims of the sexual assault of a middle school girl group." Victims of sexual violence in middle school girls are also suffering from double and triple pain and Choi Jin-sil was the victim of domestic violence and suffered divorce Choi was sued for damages worth billions of won by a construction company that was under a model contract "I signed an apartment sales advertisement model contract with Choi Jin-sil and produced an advertisement but I suffered a big loss due to poor privacy management such as the assault case of my husband being reported in the media." "Because this is not an individual-to-individual lawsuit but a case based on deep-rooted anti-female social prejudice in our society we decided to make a free argument," adding "Only those who have been involved in domestic violence or divorce know." He stressed that it is against anti-female lawsuits in order to help the underprivileged in crisis the victim's father shared 50 million won in settlement money received from the perpetrators with his relatives The victim never graduated from high school he reportedly suffered trauma due to the shock and lived a curvy life moving around daily jobs He also cut off contact with lawyer Kang Ji-won The "Milyang Group Sexual Violence" incident sexually assaulted a middle school girl in Ulsan for a year 20 years ago "The mastermind of the smuggling sexual assault case You must have thought I couldn't find it?' the video was released The channel released a total of four videos of the perpetrators' workplaces and their current appearances and also announced the release of videos of the remaining perpetrators The channel operator said on the YouTube bulletin board 'Did you ask the victim for permission?'" adding "It's right to start with the conclusion." "There are people who raise the identity of the perpetrators but it is an incident that must be 'cross-checked (cross-validation)." Netizens were also resentful of the incident itself of mass sexual assault but they are expressing greater anger as there is a consensus that the punishment the perpetrators received at the time was insufficient This is because the perpetrators are living a free and normal life without any guilt Repentations written by the perpetrator in the past are also being released through online communities which is believed to have been written by a perpetrator after he was discharged from the juvenile shelter at the time but my age is a time to meet and have fun with women but I feel so angry and unfair to include it in the case." There was no apology to the victim As the incident of 20 years ago is drawing attention again the number of cases directly or indirectly related to the perpetrator is increasing but it did not operate that day and was empty Some Internet users have argued that the restaurant is a violation (illegal building) such as ordering the demolition of the building in violation of the restaurant where A worked on the 3rd who was pointed out as another perpetrator B changed his name and worked at the exhibition hall of an imported car dealer and the company he worked for issued a statement that he fired B through social networking services (SNS) the day before Twenty people were sent to a juvenile detention center The remaining perpetrators were either agreed with the victim or were not included in the complaint the Busan District Court's Family Support decided to repatriate five perpetrators of this case to juvenile detention centers in the short and long term the perpetrators were indicted and tried on charges of violating the Act on the Protection of Youth Sexuality One person received a decision to send a long-term juvenile detention center (disposal No and the other four received a decision to send a short-term juvenile detention center (disposal No Disposition 7 corresponds to imprisonment in correctional facilities for minors within two years and disposition 6 corresponds to imprisonment within six months 80 hours of social service activities and 40 hours of edification programs were ordered along with long-term probation it was revealed that a police officer told the victim in a way that "all the secretions were blurred." "Battle Rabbit," who disclosed the details of the perpetrators of the Miryang sexual assault case in Gyeongsangnam-do has been arrested on charges of defamation and other charges The Changwon District Court announced on the 8th that the judge in charge of the warrant issued an arrest warrant for A after examining the warrant's substance on charges of defamation and coercion under the Information and Communication Network Act A has been accused of disclosing the personal information of several perpetrators of the Miryang sexual assault case on the YouTube channel "Battle Rabbit" without the consent of those involved In a video titled "You thought you couldn't catch Miryang Kang OO right?" he introduced B as "the main culprit of the Miryang incident and the main culprit who called the victim to Miryang," revealing his home address and workplace name the Miryang sexual assault case shocked 44 male students by sexually assaulting a middle school girl for a year in 2004 The remaining 20 were also sent to juvenile detention centers The other perpetrators either agreed with the victim or were not included in the complaint so the decision was made "no right to prosecute." The controversy erupted because not one of the 44 people was punished and no criminal records were left The movie "Han Gong-ju" and the drama "Signal" were also produced based on the incident Poppies are now in full bloom offering a beautiful red hue along the banks of the Miryang River in Sammun-dong This vibrant poppy field stretches from Moonju Bridge The poppies start blooming in late May and reach their peak by mid-June the city has recently installed benches along the pathways within the flower complex and in front of the cherry blossom tunnel providing picturesque spots for rest and photography Sign up for our weekly newsletter of articles from Japan, Korea, Guam, and Okinawa with travel tips, restaurant reviews, recipes, community and event news, and more. National What we need is consistency: Unmasking the criminal suspects On July 17, a freshman at Inha University in Incheon, was formally arrested on charges of raping and causing the death of his schoolmate. Shocked that such a terrible crime took place inside the campus, people demanded that the suspect’s identity be disclosed, but police decided not to reveal it on the grounds that the suspect’s charge does not belong to the six major crimes subject to personal information disclosure. The decision reignited a decades-long controversy over the disclosure of a criminal suspect’s identity and whether it is more important to protect human rights or honor the public’s right to know. Experts say whether to mask or unmask suspects has been inconsistent over the years as the law itself is not clear and enforcement of the law is also at times decided by public sentiment. They call for more consistency to prevent public confusion. Shocked by the brutality of the crime, some people gathered information about the suspects on their own, made a list of possible perpetrators with photos and personal information and distributed it online. This caused problems because they were only suspects and some had nothing to do with the crime. This incident brought up the need to protect a suspect’s identity, and the police began to cover suspect‘s faces with masks and hats in front of the press. At the same time a number of serial murders in the 2000s increased public pressure for identities to be revealed. In 2004, Yoo Young-chul was arrested after causing at least 20 deaths, and two years later Jeong Nam-gyu, who murdered 13 victims, was caught. Their personal information was not disclosed. Public anger and anxiety rose as the violent crimes continued, and finally it exploded when another infamous serial killer, Kang Ho-soon, was arrested after the murders of 10 women on Jan. 24, 2009. People protested, asking whether the human rights of such felons were worth protecting, and eventually the press, not the police, revealed Kang’s face. A year later, in 2010, an official system to manage the disclosure of criminal suspects’ identities was established. But such arguments run against the principle of presumption of innocence. The policy can also function as a modern-day guilt-by-association system. It is only the suspect whose information gets displayed in public, but there is no preventive measure to protect their family members and acquaintances from being harmed. Most importantly, under the current system, the decision to identify the suspect heavily depends upon external factors. According to a recent study released by the Police Science Institute, which dealt with the case of 35 suspects whose personal information was disclosed from 2010 to the first half of 2021, decisions whether suspect’s identity to be disclosed or not had a valid relationship with the public sentiments. The disclosure of the suspect’s personal information occurs an average of 4.96 days after the incident. During the period, between the cases that suspects’ information was unveiled and the cases that was not, there was a significant difference in the number of comments on online news articles. More than twice as many comments were made under articles about cases in which personal information was disclosed as under cases in which it wasn’t. However, not all violent crimes that received public attention disclosed the suspect’s identity. The subjective judgment of the police committee that determines whether it is appropriate to disclose the suspect’s identity -- comprised of three internal officials and four outside experts -- is a significant factor. On May 2016, a man was caught after stabbing a woman to death in a public bathroom near Gangnam Station. The police did not disclose his personal information, considering the fact that he suffered from schizophrenia. Two years later, in October 2018, Kim Seong-su, 29, was arrested after stabbing a man to death at an internet cafe in western Seoul. Although his crime was similar to the 2016 Gangnam station murder case and he suffered from depression, Kim’s face and information were disclosed. The law should be predictable. It should be clear and understandable. Experts mainly pointed to two urgent and ambiguous areas that need to be revised: Unclear expressions used in articles and arbitrary standard police committee. Currently, two articles set out guidance on the disclosure of criminal suspects’ information: Article 8-2 of the Act On Special Cases Concerning The Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes and Article 25 of the Act On Special Cases Concerning The Punishment of Sexual Crimes. Both articles mention that the suspect needs to meet four criteria to have their identity disclosed: “The crime shall be a specific violent crime which has been committed in a cruel way and has brought material damage; sufficient evidence shall exist to prove that the criminal suspect has committed the crime; disclosure shall be required for the public good only; and the suspect shall not be a juvenile.” Lee Soo-jung, criminal psychology professor at Kyonggi University, pointed out the lack of clarity in the language. “The law needs to define things more clearly. Only when the scope of ‘crime which has been committed in a cruel way’ is properly determined will the judgment not be swung by the arbitrary standards of the police committee,” she said. Seung Jae-hyun, a researcher at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, focused on the problem of the police committee, saying that “the fact that decisions made by the committees are inconsistent is a problem, but it is also a big problem that whether to hold a committee or not is inconsistent.” He points out that the police’s inconsistent attitude was also seen in the Inha University case. There was no police committee for this case because the suspect was charged with quasi-rape resulting in death, not murder, which means he did not meet the requirements for disclosure of personal information. However, the police chose not to open the police committee even before the charges were decided by the prosecution.　 To make things fair, suspects must be unmasked without exceptions if he or she meets the conditions specified by the law, Seung explained. “However, in its current state, it is impossible to predict whether the police committee will be convened or not, because the decision is solely made by each police agency,” he added. PPP presidential candidate, leadership clash over merger with Han The plan to unify the candidacies of conservative People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo and former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo faces a rocky road. Democratic Party alleges 'judiciary coup', threatens to impeach Supreme Court justices Lee Jae-myung, on his third try and closer than ever Won climbs on softer US tariffs, Taiwan currency surge CJ ENM, Amazon Prime sign deal to increase K-content access Venezuela, Korea mark 60 years of ties with sculpture Latest business news, delivered in a 2-minute read Respect wanes: Teaching no longer highly coveted job in S. Korea As unused homes increase in rural South Korea, govt. mobilizes nationwide response Why S. Korean mothers are opting for C-sections at record rates In South Korea, you can shop, dine and even see a doctor underground. But risks may lurk beneath Lee Jae-myung leads in hypothetical three-way race with Han Duck-soo, but race tightens, new poll shows The Korea Herald by Herald Corporation. Copyright Herald Corporation. All Rights Reserved. While it is known that the perpetrator of the "Milyang middle school girl group sexual assault" worked at a restaurant where his Jongwon Baek visited and became famous, there are also voices of criticism against the perpetrator who posted on the side of the perpetrators in the past and later became a police officer. In fact, on the 2nd and 3rd, a series of posts criticizing the police chief A were posted on the bulletin board of the ○○ Police Station in Gyeongsangnam-do. Netizens even mentioned A's real name, saying, "Is this the place where the person who defended the perpetrator of the Miryang sexual assault goes," "Unless you quit, this bulletin board will not stop criticizing you," "I've heard rumors," "Is this the place where the person who has committed crimes in the past and changed his name?" "Please explain the secret case," and "It's amazing that he is still police." The "Milyang Sexual Violence Case" took place in Miryang, Gyeongsangnam-do in 2004, and 44 male students sexually assaulted a female middle school student for a year. The perpetrators are known to be high school students born between 1986 and 1988. Not a single one of the 44 people was punished, causing public outrage as it was known that no criminal record was left. The incident was particularly problematic in that some local police and residents defended the perpetrators and criticized the victims. Mr. A was one of them. A, who was a high school senior at the time, said in the perpetrator's Cyworld mini-homepage guest book, "Did it work out well (the sexual assault case of a middle school girl in Miryang)? I heard that all but three of us came out.More... Even X is ugly, but they did a great job. Anyway!" he wrote. The content was criticized as it was belatedly known. A, who has since become an adult, passed the police officer examination in 2010 and has been working in Gyeongnam until now. Since becoming a police officer, he has reportedly changed his name and started a family. Netizens continued to track down and criticize Mr. A. In response, even before the incident was re-examined this time, articles criticizing A were constantly posted on the bulletin board of the police station. As criticism against him continued, A issued an apology in 2012. He bowed his head, saying, "I posted this in my teenage years in high school without knowing it, but I deeply reflect on the actions at the time that broke the victim's heart and bow down to apologize." The reason why A has been re-examined is that the YouTube channel "Narak Archives" recently revealed the current situation of the mastermind of the Miryang sexual assault case. The YouTuber also disclosed the fact that one of the perpetrators was running a restaurant in Cheongdo-gun, as well as the fact that Jongwon Baek introduced it as a restaurant. He said, "It is known as a delicious restaurant and is attracting money. The store calls it a part-timer. "I heard that the leader is currently raising his daughter without worrying about money," he said. As this fact became known, the restaurant review is currently undergoing a "review terrorist" that gives one star, asking, "Is this a restaurant run by a rapist?" The restaurant expressed its injustice, saying, "It is true that my father hired the mastermind, Mr. B, but we didn't commit a crime, did we?" The restaurant has closed its social media accounts. ※ This service is provided by machine translation tool, NAVER papago. 2022Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyPak’s version of the story picks up after the official investigation has closed and grapples with the isolation and arrested emotions that the victim’s parents feel in the aftermath Jayil Pak’s Korean-language short film “Georgia” opens on a scene that appears unremarkable in the extreme: a middle-aged couple are struggling with technology The husband pecks the words “love” and “daughter” out with his index fingers and the husband peers farsightedly at an instruction manual but can’t make it work; the Korean characters turn into blank squares The husband warns his wife that this will triple the costs for their project arrested by the sight of a piggy bank with the words “American dream” written across its plastic belly It soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary family killed herself after a group of her high-school classmates gang-raped her she had been working on a Korean version of the font Georgia and dreamed of going to design school in the United States her mother suffered a stroke and now struggles to speak who bathes her and takes her along to his factory job in an improvised cart hitched to his bicycle The couple are three months behind on rent and under enormous pressure to take a cash settlement from the rapists’ families and they funnel their meagre resources into making protest banners that they believe will force the police to reinvestigate Jina’s case Pak drew inspiration for “Georgia” from a notorious 2004 gang-rape case in Miryang in which at least forty-one male high-school students were accused of raping several middle-and-high-school-age girls in the course of almost a year as did the police’s handling of the subsequent investigation: officers reportedly harangued the victims telling them they’d ruined the city’s reputation and leaked identifying information about them to the media said that when he was writing his script he found himself struggling to make the story believable it’s almost like one-dimensional storytelling,” he said Pak’s version of the story picks up after the official investigation has closed face only minor punishments for their crimes Only one of the rapists is sent to juvenile detention and two have faced suspensions from school When Jina’s mother goes to clean out her daughter’s school locker one of the boys laughing with his friends and eating tonkatsu the phrase “we still have a life to live” is repeated—by the mother of one of the alleged rapists and the community at large are ready to move on in their fight to hold their daughter’s abusers to account Jina’s parents must consider the difficult questions of what the living owe the dead A long-ago crime, suddenly remembered A limousine driver watches her passengers transform The day Muhammad Ali punched me What is it like to be keenly intelligent but deeply alienated from simple emotions? Temple Grandin knows The harsh realm of “gentle parenting.”  Retirement the Margaritaville way Fiction by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Thank You for the Light.”  Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. including Samyang Foods' President and CEO Kim Jung-soo break ground for the Miryang II Plant in the Nano Convergence National Industrial Complex in Miryang A Cambodian migrant farm worker stands outside the greenhouse where she works growing vegetables in Miryang South Korean labor rights activist Kim Yi-chan's bus is not hard to spot as it cruises the rural roads of Miryang city on the southern end of the Korean peninsula It is the only one with a banner in Korean and Khmer bearing the words "Migrant Agricultural Workers' Human Rights Bus," as it plies the narrow roads between farming hamlets and long rows of greenhouses The Khmer is targeted to Cambodian migrants South Korean youth in this area are no longer interested in tilling the soil Cambodia is South Korea's second-largest source of migrant workers, after China. More than 32,500 Cambodians are in the country on non-professional work visas mostly doing manual labor on farms and in factories and fisheries About 222,500 such visa holders are in South Korea The country currently allows migrants to fill labor shortages but soon it may have to allow greater immigration to help augment its aging Kim stops at farms and picks up migrants who are not happy with their working conditions He helps them find new jobs on other farms calls attention to the conditions they face Some also complain of a lack of privacy and unwanted physical contact by employers Kim says the violation of migrant workers' rights is hard to change because South Korea's immigration system is stacked against them "Working conditions are bad and employers are violating the law but they still manage to hang onto their workers," he says "The laborers bite the bullet and stay on because they are warned and threatened that if they leave The issue of migrant workers' rights goes far beyond agriculture. The country's population began to shrink for the first time last year and the prospect of an aging society looms over South Korea's future Carrying a banner with the message "We are not village slaves," Cambodian migrant farm workers and South Korean labor rights activists protest unfair working conditions in Miryang a migration expert at Seoul National University says that South Korea is taking in migrants because it needs to supplement its agriculture and not to address a demographic imbalance She predicts that situation will change over the next decade as the country reaches a turning point that will necessitate a policy shift "The approximate age of the [Korean] people working the fields right now is over 70," she says it will be hard for them to remain in the workforce." But it's very difficult for migrants working in South Korea to become citizens. Chung says the government knows public opinion is against allowing mass immigration. In 2018, a report on the ideal future level of immigration found 42% of South Koreans favored maintaining the current level Korea has long seen itself as a homogeneous culture, not as an immigrant nation or multicultural society. In 2019, just 3.4% of the population was foreign But demographics leave the government no choice but to allow more immigration it has all the ingredients of an immigration policy," Chung says "The foreigner policy contains measures to integrate and recognize immigrants as members of the society either as citizens or as permanent residents." The pandemic cut off the inflow of thousands of legally employed migrant workers from Southeast Asia and countries as far away as Pakistan and Uzbekistan Chung says 5,000 new seasonal laborers were supposed to come into the country to work for 90 days or less last year "the farms rely mostly on illegal immigrants who fill 80% to 90% of that shortage." There are more than 392,000 undocumented workers in the country The pandemic is making South Koreans more aware of the harsh conditions for migrants who toil on their farms Last December, the case of a Cambodian migrant who died in a greenhouse that she lived in focused attention on the problem authorities stopped issuing employment permits to employers who housed their workers in greenhouses and other improvised dwellings stops to collect a Cambodian migrant who is still living in a greenhouse Khen Srey Nuon was living in the greenhouse before the new rule was issued Her employer claims he offered her accommodation elsewhere but she declined she sounds unhappy about her living situation Boxes of the strawberries and peppers she harvests and packs sit outside a makeshift bedroom Her bathroom and kitchen are in separate sheds outside Labor rights activists help a Cambodian migrant farm worker move her belongings out of her dwelling in Miryang "The water here freezes in winter," she says Cambodian migrant Kuong Srey Leab tells Kim her employers have been deceiving her by requiring her to work for their relatives and friends something that isn't specified in her employment contract but I get paid very little," she complains "I've also worked for my employer's son and his friends and others whose names I don't even know." But the employers say that working for relatives is part of the reality of life on family-owned farms of stirring up trouble and undermining what they claim are the generally harmonious relations between migrants and their employers the workers didn't say they had to do any unpaid work," says Yoon Sang-jin who represents a group of local farmers employing migrant workers "But they team up with these activists to take advantage of the farmers' difficulties and benefit themselves NPR's Se Eun Gong contributed to this report in Seoul Become an NPR sponsor The operator of the YouTube channel "The Narak Archives" said he was contacted by one of the perpetrators of the "Milyang Middle School Girl Group Sexual Violence" to change the picture used in the video Internet users are angry when the perpetrator responded to the effect that "if it's Lee please change it to a good-looking picture of himself," rather than reflecting on the incident According to an interview with No Cut News on the 15th "Have you ever been threatened or contacted by disclosing the personal information of the perpetrators?" but I received an e-mail from one of the perpetrators saying that the picture was strange," adding Regarding the controversy over the second assault by releasing the video without consultation with the victim "I sincerely apologize to the victim," adding "There was a misunderstanding due to the mail sent by the victim's younger brother after posting the video." It also revealed why the perpetrators' personal information was disclosed "I've been interested in social issues such as unsolved cases since I was a child," A said I dealt with the case of 'assault death of ex-girlfriend in Geoje' and I was watching the Miryang case with interest and collecting data "The perpetrators are really bad people if there is anything I felt the most while making this personal video," adding "I hope this incident does not end up as a flash issue as the victims say." the Miryang group sexual assault was a case in which 44 high school students in Miryang lured an Ulsan middle school girl to Miryang in December 2004 and raped her continuously for a year A police officer in charge of the so-called "Milyang Middle School Girl Group Sexual Violence" that took place in Miryang more than 20 years ago was also exposed to identity theft a video was posted on YouTube revealing the personal information of A the former head of the violent 1st team at Ulsan Nambu Police Station The video contained personal information such as A's real name A retired in 2016 after serving as the head of the Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency's wide-area investigation team and the head of the intelligent crime investigation team He has established a professional kickboxing organization and operated online platforms such as YouTube but recently deleted all videos posted on the channel who were in charge of the sexual assault case at the time reportedly inflicted a second assault on the victim human rights director of the Korean Women's Bar Association the police exposed the details of the incident and the victim's identity to the media despite the victim's request to "protect their identity." a male police officer came in instead of a female police officer and the officer in charge of the interrogation poured out abusive remarks such as "Didn't you tail first?" "You clouded all the Miryang water," and "The perpetrators are the ones who will lead Miryang in the future." However it was not confirmed whether A was a police officer who verbally abused The "Milyang Sexual Violence Case" took place in Miryang Not a single one of the 44 people was punished causing public outrage as it was known that no criminal record was left The incident was particularly problematic in that some local police and residents defended the perpetrators and criticized the victims Your Ads Privacy ChoicesIMDb a YouTube channel revealed the personal information of the men saying they were the perpetrators of the Miryang middle school girl group sexual assault The Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center which said on the 5th that it was one of the organizations supporting victims of the Miryang sexual assault "It is not true that YouTube's Narak Archives sought the consent of the victims of the 2004 incident." 'Did you ask the victim for permission?' In conclusion I had a direct e-mail conversation with the victim's family and the conversation has been concluded by disclosing all 44 people." the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center said "I had no idea about the case until the "Narak Archives" posted the first video about the case," adding "I was not even asked whether I agreed in advance." I requested to delete the video on the 3rd," he said stressing that "the victim and his family did not agree to release all 44 people in the future." He added "The victim's family agreed and asked again to delete and revise the notice that all 44 people were to be disclosed the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center expressed concern about the victim's daily recovery and unilateral video uploads and views races that suddenly appeared and hoped that the "Narak Archives" would delete the notice and correct the misunderstood situation A has deleted the notice claiming to have obtained the victim's consent