The sparrow near a school sings the primer and a woman 30 years in Korea can catch a sex offender. This is what happened.
Last December late at night, I sent my friend off at Seoul Station. It was so crowded with Christmas Holiday just around the corner.
I was walking towards the subway station to go back home.
Right then, a man passing by ran my breast and my private area with his hands very quickly and walked as if nothing had happened.
Generally, women would be humiliated, embarrassed and confused and come to a halt for a moment.
However, me being a woman born and raised in Korea quickly found the most appropriate way of action with the references of my past experience.
“Hey!!!!!!!”
I shouted towards the sex abuser as I turned toward him.
When sex offenders hear a woman roaring, they tend to walk in a distorted gait as if they have heard nothing.
However, normally people would stop to figure out what is happening when they hear a woman screaming like crazy.
Since this man did not show any interest even in the midst of my shouting which I guarantee it was hard to ignore, I figured he is guilty and didn’t even have the guts to look at me.
As I screamed in the middle of Seoul Station, passers-by all stopped and whispered about what was going on.
All eyes were on me.
I found the offender ignoring and walking away from me as fast as he could. His action provoked me and I screamed even louder without hesitation.
Obviously, he had no idea with whom he was dealing.
“Son of a bitch, stop there right now!”
I ran to catch him but he started to walk fast with a loping stride running away from me.
He knew exactly how close I was getting to him and in which direction I was walking. It was as if he had eyes in his back.
The offender hid in the men’s restroom trying to avoid me. Perhaps he thought I would give up and leave since it’s a men’s restroom.
He did not know that I am not someone who gives up that quickly. I stood in front of the men’s restroom and bawled and squalled.
“You fucking pervert. What you just did is all recorded on the CCTV camera, asshole. What a stupid idiot!”
I immediately called 112, the Korean version of 911 having him captive in the restroom.
I informed the officers through my phone about what had happened very loudly so that he would hear me.
“I am in front of the men’s restroom next to Baskin Robbins at Seoul Station. Please hurry. I can’t keep him long.”
As I reported what had happened, curious bystanders near me figured things out.
A cleaning lady came to me and comforted me; all the men in the restroom probably doing their necessities were surprised at my sudden shouting and I’m guessing they had to raise up their trousers in no time.
They asked me if the sex offender was wearing an orange jacket and informed me of his location to tell the police officers and guarded the front door of the restroom just in case he attempts to run away again.
The police got there in 10 minutes and the offender was caught. He was finally exposed to the public as he came out of the restroom with two police officers on his sides.
He pretended he was drunk and made an innocent face.
I was so angry and was literally about to punch his face, but I saw the angry and disgusted eyes of the all bystanders on him and decided to calm myself down.
I went to the police station and the police officer in charge told me that they are checking the CCTV cameras.
She informed me that even without the CCTV camera or witnesses as evidence he is still subject to criminal prosecution if my testimony is consistent.
I was determined and made it clear that I will not negotiate an agreement and that I want a heavy punishment to be given.
I also added,
“Considering how fast he could run his hands over me, I am so sure this is not his first time. I want a severe and clear punishment on behalf of all those women who were sexually abused but could not report to the police. I will force him to learn his lesson.”
That day, on my way back home after the investigation, I thought about the moments during my college years when I was sexually abused.
To be exact, it was more of a verbal sexual harassment than a physical one.
One day, I was wearing my short shorts and showing the way to a lost student who happened to be a white man.
Suddenly, an elderly Korean man popped up out of nowhere and said,
“Are you satisfied flirting with a white guy in your short shorts? Shame on you.”
Of course, as you can guess by now, I am not someone who can bear and keep quiet only because he is an elderly man.
Most of the time, in Korea, we have a culture of obeying and not talking back to the elderly.
However, I screamed out loud and people around tried to calm me down telling me to ignore him.
I felt aggrieved at what the elderly man said and a hard time falling asleep for a couple of days.
Ten years since then, I became mature enough to be able to catch a sexual offender with the help of the police.
I got several phone calls for a settlement agreement, but I was determined and refused any agreement.
After 6 months of investigation, the sexual offender got to stand trial and was fined with 10 million won, around $8,500.
Moreover, he has to attend 80 hours of sexual violence education program and will face restrictions on employment for 3 years in all related fields.
I kept thinking that the life of the sparrow could be better than the life of a Korean woman facing sexual harassment, but when I got a call from the court about the result, I was on cloud nine.
A Korean woman will not bear.