Synopsis:

In the last episode of Live, the media has portrayed the actions of the police, specifically Sang Su, as an act of violence and danger to the public. While the media has intentionally opted out significant details of the incidence and the upper ranks prioritizing public relations,  justice was bestowed and Sang Su’s actions were declared as rational and fulfilling the duties of the police. As the story was approaching its ending, things turned out well for everyone and Oh Yang Chon returned to the police force being fully recovered.

Discussion:

The issue of being framed through the media exists in every part of the world. While these act of framing may be through the utilization of fake news, it can also happen, just like in Live, by leaving out essential information about the situation. It was said through one of the actors in the drama that “people aren’t even interested in things like that,” (ep. 18, 37:50) and that what only concerns the public and media coverage is the end result. News broadcasting agencies were primarily established todeliver and inform the public about issues but as capitalism became more dominant, the main priority of news agencies became viewership, even if it came to using phrases or words to frame people to be murderers when they are actually heroes.

As citizens and people tend to believe what they see and hear in the news to be fully true, the rate at which these information travel in Korea is extremely fast and during the travelling period, what was spoken as a “could be” turns into a fact with a negative connotation. Canada is about a 100 times larger than the size of Korea but ironically, Korea has approximately 16 million more people. We can imagine how fast information can travel in such a densely populated area.

One example which demonstrates this is the case of Youtuber Yang Ye Won and the owner of the photo studio that caused numerous uprisings and debates. To summarize the incident, the Youtuber filed a suit against the photo studio owner that she was sexually abused and forced to take nude photo shoots. However, messages exchanged between the two showed otherwise. While this story was one of the hottest topics during the summer of 2018, news travelled extremely fast and the media took part on what was only interesting and information that could bring more viewership to their channels. Being framed as a perverted freak, the owner of the photo studio committed suicide with a will that reportedly vented his frustration about the investigation in his letter. He claimed that it will not be fair to him and that the police and the media only want to listen to the victim (Rapir, 2018). It is too early to conclude whether who’s the real victim as the trial is still ongoing ,but Yang’s statement about the incident did not match the evidences so far.

According to a study by professor Wedding from University of Missouri-Columbia, one of the main reasons for people who consider suicide is due to being victims of bullying (Wedding, 2008). From the previous example, it is still not concluded that the owner actually did what he is being accused of; yet, people around him and the whole country hated him the day after the incident went viral, from a single statement, not a fact. The hatred that not only the owner had to endure, but also his friends and family that were also being bullied by the country.

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Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think framing comes from a biased viewpoint or are done intentionally to draw public attention?
2. How can we educate the public that not everything they see in the media/news are true?

Bibliography:

Wedding, D. (n.d.). Commonalities Between Suicide in Korea, Japan and the United States. Retrieved from https://dmh.mo.gov/docs/mentalillness/wedding.pdf.

Rapir, J. (2018, July 10). Yang Ye Won Sexual Harassment Case Update: Studio Director Involved In Case Commits Suicide, Leaves Will. Retrieved from http://en.koreaportal.com/articles/45952/20180710/yang-ye-won-sexual-harassment-case-update-studio-director-involved-in-case-commits-suicide-leaves-will.htm

Synopsis

Episode 11 starts off with a very refreshing and a “serves you right” moment when the underage teens get justified for their crimes. However, as the story unfolds, we, as the viewers, get to realize that the actions of Man-Yeong were a reflection of his past and the absence of loving parents. While Man-Yeong’s case has ended, we get introduced to another new problem of a serial rapist. Ironically, the victims refuse for a proper investigation due to the fear of being targeted again but in episode 12, we get to see the past of Jeong-O which ultimately allowed her to convince the victim to continue for a proper investigation.

Discussion

Like all societies, victimization of women are prevalent around the world. As mentioned in class, victimization of women gave thrust to the Korean feminist movement and it did not take long for the #MeToo movement to gain momentum. 2018 was perhaps one of the most significant year where feminist activity experienced its pinnacle and gained widespread media coverage in Korea. However, it is always the case that when these movements rise to battle injustice inequality, there are those who take advantage of the situation.

During May of 2018, the case of Youtuber Yang Ye Won has gained an incredible amount of support and coverage for her courage to speak up and tell the public about her victimization. However, it was not so long when the case was backlashed by a series of evidence that went against her claims. While she claims that she was sexually abused by the photo studio that she was freelancing for, evidence of exchanged  text messages showed that it was Yang that wanted more session and that she was the one who dictated when to work and had the choice of working or not. According to an article from Metro, she claimed that she was a victim of a sex crime and was told that it would be a normal photo-shoot (Hicap, 2018). While her YouTube video explaining the situation stated that there was a total of five sessions, evidenced showed that even after five sessions, she was the one to schedule more sessions, totaling 13. The case is still ongoing and yet to unfold as the most recent trial was on the 24^th.

Although we do not know whether or not she took advantage of the feminist movement to gain support or fame, current evidence showed that her side of the story did not match what she claimed. This sort of ambiguous case significantly hinders the movement towards equality, especially in the Korean culture. Korean culture is extremely divided when it comes to gender roles. The cultural norms and duties of a women and men are strictly divided and guided by traditional principles. In the 21^st century, the Korean society has evolved to adapt to a women oriented or inclusive workforce since the significance of the export based economy flourished during the Park Chung Hee era, where women played a major role in the labour market. However, feminist movements in Korea are different  than those of the Western culture and by different, I mean privilege. Korea is one of the few countries that still have mandatory military service, however, the irony is that only men have to serve in the military for two years while the same regulation does not apply to its counterpart. In addition, there are multiple spaces, even a whole floor dedicated to a “women’s only” parking . When the two genders want equality, these gender concepts that points to the “only” privilege or disadvantage must disappear and in my opinion, that day will not be in the near future.

Questions:

1. Do you think that some accommodations and regulations that are allowed only for certain gender deteriorates the sense of equality?
2. In North America, there is an active men’s rights group called the Men’s Rights Association or the MRA. However, their protests and rallies are always belittled by both men and women. Why do you think this is the case?

(Little side note for question 2, MRA fights for men’s equality, focused on equal treatment. One of their issues address the difference in crime. There are cases where both the man and the woman committed the same crime but the man was given a higher sentence compared to the woman. In addition, Erin Pizzey, the founder of the first women’s domestic violence shelter in the world and current men’s rights activist, believes that domestic violence had nothing to do with what power men had or are assumed to have over women. Pizzey stated from an interview with A Voice for Men that both men and women in interpersonal relationships can be violent. While there were approximately 2000 women’s help center for domestic violence in the United States in 2016, there was only one that dedicated its service for men since most women’s center refused to help men)

Bibliography

Hicap, J. (2018, May 28). YouTube star claiming she was sexually assaulted gets online abuse. Retrieved from https://metro.co.uk/2018/05/28/youtube-star-claiming-she-was-sexually-assaulted-and-forced-to-do-nude-photoshoots-gets-online-abuse-over-conflicting-statements-7582789/