The recent random “hate” murder of a young woman at Gangnam, Seoul has sparked a national outrage.
It was reported that a body of a 23-year-old woman was found in the public bathroom of a 3-storey building in Seocho on 17th May (Tuesday). The suspect, a 34-year-old man known as Mr. Kim, reportedly confessed to the police that he killed the victim simply because “she was a woman”.
Many women and K-Pop celebrities are now speaking out to express disgust at the alleged murderer, who stabbed the victim multiple times on the chest.
According to The Korea Herald, the victim had been drinking at a bar with her boyfriend near the Gangnam Subway Station and Mr. Kim was a restaurant employee at that building. After going through the building’s surveillance cameras, the police discovered that he stabbed the victim with a knife that he had taken from the kitchen he works in.
Mr. Kim admitted that he didn’t know the woman personally and that he “hated women for belittling and ignoring him”. Apparently, the suspect suffers from schizophrenia, a severe mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves.
Angered and sickened by the killer’s motive, celebrities have taken to social media to express their anger over the hate crime.
2PM Chansung wrote, “This is really low. Would this have happened if (the victim) had been a man? It was the fact that she was a woman that motivated him to act that way. It wasn’t an accident, but a choice. If only he could feel the consequences his choices brought about”.
1. 뭐라고 말을 해야할까.. 정말 저열하다. 같은 남자였다면 그랬을까? 그 행동을 할 수 있게 만든 동기의 점화선에 불이 붙은 건 여자였기 때문이다. 우발적 사고가 아닌 선택이었다. 본인의 선택이 어떤 결과를 초래하는지 제대로 뼈저리게 느꼈으면..
— 황찬성 (@2PMagreement211) May 19, 2016
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Female celebrities such as rapper KittieB (from “Unpretty Rapstar 2”) posted a photo of a Post-it note from Gangnam Subway Station that reads, “I am you. Your death will soon be my death”.
Actress Kang Ye Won (from “Bad Guys”) also took to Instagram to discuss the issue. “Although the victim is one woman and the criminal is one man, all of us could become victims, so to dismiss this problem as a personal one is too great of an issue. Rest in peace,” wrote the star.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFjO-j7gHXk/?taken-by=officialkittib
Since news of the murder broke, many women in Seoul have covered the outer wall of the Gangnam Subway Station with Post-it notes and flowers in memory of the innocent victim and to remind society that women often became targets of crime because they are weaker than men.
To quote a social media user with the ID 369, “The world keeps telling women about things they should not be doing, such as not being out late at night, not going to dangerous places and not wearing revealing clothes. Now there is another one ― not going to a public restroom past 1am”.
Sources: The Korea Herald, The Korea Times, All Kpop (1), All Kpop (2) / Featured image: The Korea Times.
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