The Seocho-dong public restroom murder case,
commonly known as the Gangnam Station murder case or the Gangnam Station
femicide
Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russel ...
occurred at the
public restroom
A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets (or urinals) and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils ...
of a
karaoke
Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...
bar in
Seocho-gu
Seocho District () is one of the 25 '' gu'' (local government districts) which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. Seocho is generally referred to as a part of Greater Gangnam Area, along with Gangnam District. As of 2022, Seocho District ra ...
,
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
on 17 May 2016.
Kim Seong-min (34 years old) stabbed to death an unspecified woman he had never met before, and later claimed that he did so out of his hatred for women as they had ignored and humiliated him all his life. The police later refuted his claims and said the incident was not a hate crime against women, as claimed, but one driven by mental illness. On 13 April 2017,
the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea finalized the sentence of 30 years in prison for the murderer Kim Seong-min.
Incident
Kim Seong-min, a 34-year-old employee of a nearby liquor store near
Gangnam Station
Gangnam Station is a station located in both the greater Gangnam area Gangnam District and Seocho District of Seoul, South Korea, on the Seoul Subway Line 2.
This station serves as a crucial transfer point between Line 2 and buses to all over ...
in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, entered the karaoke bar's toilet in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, at about 0:33 am on 17 May 2016. A 23-year-old woman, who entered the restroom at 1:07 am, was stabbed in the left chest four times with a kitchen knife measuring 32.5cm in length.
The attacker testified that he committed the crime because he was ignored by women and he wasn't acquainted with the victim.
Investigation
Immediately after being arrested, Kim Seong-min testified that he had often been ignored by women and committed the murder because he could not take it anymore. On 19 May,
Seoul Seocho Police Station announced that "On 18 May, Kim's mother was summoned and confirmed the medical records and medical records that Kim has been treated for a chronic illness since 2008. Kim was hospitalized four times due to his mental illness and was diagnosed by his physician at the time of discharge in early January 2016 that he could experience further episodes if he did not take the medicine that had been prescribed to him. Despite this, he did not take any medication since he got away from home at the end of March 2016." In addition, they said, "In-depth analysis of Kim's feelings and attitudes at the present stage is needed." On 19 May and 20 May, 5
profilers
Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is an investigative strategy used by law enforcement agencies to identify likely suspects and has been used by investigators to link cases that may have been committed by the same perpetrator ...
including the
National Police Agency National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries:
*Afghanistan: Afghan National Police
*Haiti: Haitian National Police
*Colombia: National Police of Colombia
*Cuba: Cuban National Police
*East Timor: National Police of E ...
criminal behavior analysis team leader Il Yong Kwon were put in to conduct psychological analysis with Kim two times.
On 22 May, Seoul Seocho Police Station announced the results of the suspect's psychological analysis. He had repeated sitting and standing since adolescence, told the surrounding people that "I can hear someone swearing at me" from 2003 to 2007 and when he went to a seminary in 2014, he got an idea that "I am trying to do my best, but I think that women keep me in check and harass me". He has a
delusion
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...
that he has been hurt by women. However, there were no specific cases in which he was injured by women.
In fact, due to this delusion, he was diagnosed with
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
in 2008 and was admitted to the psychiatric department six times in total. Since 2008, he had lost his basic self-care function, with no washing for more than a year. Kim, however, stopped taking drugs after being discharged from the hospital in early January 2016 due to no awareness of his mental illness, and had become delusional at the time of the crime.
In particular, the Seoul Seocho Police Station responded to Kim's decision to commit the crime, saying, "On 5 May, Kim was criticized for his hygiene at the restaurant where he was serving and moved to the kitchen assistant on 7 May. Even though there was no person who pointed out the hygiene problems directly to Kim, he thought women slandered him from behind. It is seen as the background of the crime." Regarding the socially controversial issue of female abomination, Kim said in an interview with the police, "I have no antipathy toward ordinary women and I am not a misogynist. There were times when I was also popular with women and there were women who liked me. The crime was due to the actual damage that women have done to me." In addition, he talked about the phenomenon of women's loathing on the internet, "I think it's childish of young people, and I'm different from them," and he spoke of the specifics of the actual damage the women inflicted on him, "women beat me on the shoulder in the subway, deliberately blocking my way and walking slowly to make me late. And women throw me a cigarette butt on me. I've endured all these trivial but unpleasant things, and I felt I couldn't stand them any longer because they had bothered me even at my work place. I thought I'd die if I stayed like this, so I thought I'd kill first. I couldn't bear to be hurt." The police decided that Kim's attitude was a delusional paradox with no clear evidence or case and announced, "He firmly believes in vague feelings and thoughts that he has been victimized by women. And his way of speaking is 'it's certain because I can feel it.' He committed a crime with deliberate accidents without directly relating to the motive of the crime or the victim. It is a characteristic of
motiveless crime that the plan is not systematic compared to the purpose such as not escaping the very next day and not getting rid of the evidence but coming to the restaurant and being arrested without real plan or preparation for arrest."
Profiler Il-yong Kwon who investigated the suspect, pointed out that the case was "a crime committed by a delusion of persecution" of the suspect suffering from schizophrenia, and that the delusion of the suspect "is not necessarily manifested only in women, but entirely hostile to the actions of others." However, he said that the aggressiveness of patients with schizophrenia is "most often expressed toward a person who is relatively vulnerable." He also said, "such schizophrenia itself is not what destroys all life. Even though he/she suffers from schizophrenia, he/she sometimes shows systematic behavior in order to achieve what he or she wants." He explained that even crime of schizophrenia can be planned systematically.
Before the second psychological interview on 20 May, on 19 May, interrogation of the suspect before arrest (real examination of warrant) was held and a warrant for arrest was issued by Seoul Central District Court because the crime was serious and Kim may run away or destroy evidence.
On 24 May at 8:30 am, the suspect who came out of the
Seocho Police Station in Seoul, boarded a convoy without answering the questionnaires of the reporters. At 8:55 am, he stopped at the entrance before proceeding to field verification at the karaoke toilet near the exit 10 of Gangnam Station in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where he committed the crime and told the reporters "I am calm now. I do not have any personal grudge or feelings about the victim, and I am sorry that she had been sacrificed anyway." About the motive of the crime, he said, "I spoke during the process of investigation and I will talk about it in the course of the trial." On this day, on-site verification was conducted for 30 minutes from 9 am with a final check by the suspect alone to reproduce process of crime from beginning to end.
Trial
In a decision-making trial on 30 September 2016, the prosecution sought
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
for the suspect and requested 20 years of medical care and an order to attach an
ankle monitor
The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...
. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced the suspect to 30 years in prison on 14 October.
The Seoul High Court's Criminal Department 2 rejected both the prosecution and the
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
's appeals in an
appeals court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
held on 12 January 2017, maintaining a 30-year prison term handed down by the first trial. The Supreme Court upheld a 30-year prison term handed down by the plaintiff to the defendant, Kim, in an appeal on 13 April 2017.
Remembrance Movement and Conflict
At the suggestion of a
netizen
The term netizen is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and '' citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general. , the victim's
memorial
A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...
campaign began and exit 10 of Gangnam Station,
close to the scene of the incident, was posted with
post-it notes
A Post-it Note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to be easily ...
pointing to
misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
issues such as "female hate is a social problem" and "women who remain will make a better world." Social controversy arose over the issue of misogyny, with
post-its and flowers for remembrance expressing their condolences for the victims at the site of Exit 10 of Gangnam Station. Meanwhile, some posts posted on SNS claiming that interpreting the case as a misogynistic crime is a leap of logic such as "Women with victim mentality are over-expanding the case," "Are we supposed to be treated as potential criminals just because we're men?" A wreath with a ribbon, which read "Don't forget the soldiers of
Cheonan Ship who died because they were men," arrived on 19 May at Gangnam Station, but the ribbon was then blocked by a memorial post-it by citizen in memory of the victim, and eventually the ribbon was removed.
On 20 May, a man wearing a pink elephant mask at Exit 10 of Gangnam Station said, "It's not that carnivores are bad, it's that animals that commit crimes ...
Zootopia
''Zootopia'' (titled ''Zootropolis'' in various regions) is a 2016 American computer-animated buddy cop action comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 55th Disney animated feature film, ...
without prejudice. "We are making it together, men and women of the Republic of Korea, which is currently number one in security in the world, but is safer." Some female mourners tried to remove the mask, saying, "If you're not a member of
Ilbe
The Improved Load Bearing Equipment (ILBE) is a United States Marine Corps program that had included individual load carriage equipment, individual hydration systems ( Source One Hydration) and individual water purification.
Since the rucksack ...
, take it off with dignity." Seocho Police were called to the police station as a physical confrontation took place and eventually to end the situation. The
Ilbe Storehouse
Daily-Best Archive () or Ilbe Storage (), also known as Ilbe Garage, is a South Korean Internet forum that has a predominantly far-right userbase. The site was created in April 2010 and started as an archive of the "daily best" posts from DC In ...
reportedly posted an article predicting that he would "wear a mask and go to the memorial site." On the afternoon of 21 May, hundreds of mourners took part in a memorial march to and from Gangnam Station and the scene of the incident, and members of the Ilbe Reservoir showed up at the event, arguing with the mourners. Fearing conflict, dozens of police were deployed to the scene.
Controversies
Misogyny
Unlike the positions of the administrative departments, such as investigative agencies, some experts from opposition parties, academia and civic groups expressed their opinion that
mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
and
misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
are not exclusive, and that there is a possibility that it is both a crime of mental illness and a crime of misogyny. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency also said the previous day that it concluded that Kim's case was a "don't ask questions" caused by his
persecutory delusion
A persecutory delusion is a common type of delusional condition in which the affected person believes that harm is going to occur to oneself by a persecutor, despite a clear lack of evidence. The person may believe that they are being targeted by a ...
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...
,
based on a comprehensive analysis of Kim's psychology through two meetings on 19 and 20 July. They say that regardless of the nature of the crime, the reaction of women and men to the case itself is important because it reflects the current state of politics, society.
Professor Oh Yoon-seong explained, "From the perspective of the victims, we chose a weak partner, which is called a woman," and "nothing more than that." "I think there's a local symbolism," he said. "There are a lot of young couples coming and going (the chair) and I think they've been stressed out, and I think they have any special feelings for the Gangnam area," he said. "Even though this person is said to have a history of mental illness, if he thought about not being arrested by the police, he could continue to be satisfied." "To solve this problem, it's an unspecified number of crimes that choose as a way to relieve their stress when they don't find something to solve," he said. "To solve that problem, it's a kind of way for our society as a whole to pay attention to those people and solve the negative aspects through communication." "There is a danger that women's misogyny can be put to the fore," she said. "The concept of a confrontation between sexes is under considerable stress now that some people call it a misogyny crime," adding, "It is not desirable for society to be swayed by a single criminal statement." "The primary reason is that there are quite a few young women in and out of the area (Gangnam Station)," said a memorial event related to
Gangnam Station
Gangnam Station is a station located in both the greater Gangnam area Gangnam District and Seocho District of Seoul, South Korea, on the Seoul Subway Line 2.
This station serves as a crucial transfer point between Line 2 and buses to all over ...
. "I believe that I can be that person, and that kind of psychological panic is spreading.”
The 20th National Assembly president-elect of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, along with
Pyo Chang-won
Pyo Chang-won (; born May 3, 1966) is a South Korean politician, with professional expertise in police studies and politics. He is a known expert on criminal profiling. He stated he wanted "to realize justice through politics", and announced h ...
, who once served as a
profiler, said, "It is clear that it is a crime against unrelated women, including the history of the chair's mental illness," but added, "It is also true that there is a twisted male-centered
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
represented by
Ilbe
The Improved Load Bearing Equipment (ILBE) is a United States Marine Corps program that had included individual load carriage equipment, individual hydration systems ( Source One Hydration) and individual water purification.
Since the rucksack ...
and
Soranet." Meanwhile, he expressed his opposition to the politicization of crimes on the murder case at Gangnam Station.
In a commentary, the
Labor Party, an outside party, described the case as a "female hate crime," while "do not ask" refers to crimes characterized by impulsive acts of abuse against an unspecified person. The murder at Gangnam Station was neither directed nor impulsive toward an "unspecified majority." He chose the location of the crime, and waited for "women" to come in for more than an hour. And the motive for the crime, 'for being ignored by a woman,' proves that the case is not a 'killer' but a murder due to misogyny. Denying and not taking countermeasures against misogyny crimes can lead to another similar misogyny crime.
Hong Seong-soo, a law professor at
Sookmyung Women's University
Sookmyung Women’s University () is a private university in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1906, Sookmyung is Korea’s first royal private educational institution for women. The university's name is derived from the Hanja charact ...
, said the case is not just about "anyone" but about "anyone among women," so it is not too much to be seen as a misogyny case. Hong said, "Now that the subject of the crime was a matter of "anyone" versus "anyone of women," I think it's safe to see the case as a misogyny crime. The problem of these crimes should be taken seriously. Based on unjustified anger, crimes are often brutal. The members of the group are terrified to target all groups. If it is "don't ask questions" targeting unspecified people, the scope of potential victims will be broadened, which is unlikely to be considered a "my problem." However, if there are frequent crimes against a certain group, such as women, foreigners and sexual minorities, it becomes a 'my problem' for the members of the group.”
Bang Yi-seul of the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center said, "It is rather out of touch with reality to see the case as irrelevant to misogyny through the identity of the perpetrator, because the original misogyny itself is not done on a logical basis, but only because it is a woman."
Seo Cheon-seok, a psychiatrist for youth psychiatry, said, "The symptoms of mental illness are in the social context," adding, "The problem is that he said he committed crimes 'because women ignored me.' It has a social context and it is 'female disgust,'" he pointed out. "In the past authoritarian dictatorship, many Cho Hyun-byung patients complained of hearing, telling me that the Central Intelligence Agency was following me and eavesdropping," and saying, "In the late 1980s, the CIA should pay attention to the emergence of "female hatred" as in the late 2000s, and that if a woman-hating consciousness is developing into a symptom of mental illness, this kind of change in society as a whole." Or is this the cause of the suspicion?' We have to stop this low-level debate." As for public reaction, "The reason this case became a big issue is not because of what one criminal said, but because of the dangerous reality in our society where the crime took place. Women are not safe, as the percentage of victims in violent incidents is eight times more than that of men," he said.
Professor Bae Eun-kyung of the sociology department at
Seoul National University
Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...
said, "If the incident was caused by real schizophrenia, it shows the unconsciousness that misogyny worked," adding, "The aggression shown in irrational and irrational thinking shows the unconscious structure facing women."
Lee Woong-hyeok, a professor of police administration at
Konkuk University
Konkuk University () is a South Korean private university founded in 1946. The university was founded based on three virtues: sincerity, fidelity, and righteousness.
Konkuk University gives comprehensive education in agricultural and life scien ...
, explained both cases of misogyny crime and the combination of two factors: misogyny and mental illness. Lee first explained that police did not believe the suspect was targeted at women because they did not believe it was credible. However, if the motive for targeting women is true, it could be seen as a hate crime," he said. "When I approach a woman in social life, I think I'm being ostracized, or because I had this kind of emotional shock, I think there was a problem in my mental judgment. If so, it clearly has a slightly different nature to view this as a mere pattern of motorized crime, so-called "questionless crime," that has occurred so far. Because there has been a lot of the so-called hate, demeaning expressions and moods for women in our society recently. For example, 'Kimchi girl' or '
Doenjang Girl' and a number of other disparaging expressions, it clearly had vague hatred and hatred of women by some excluded and marginalized men." As to the growing impact of the incident, he said, "For now, I think it could be interpreted that most women share a lot of sympathy with this case. "I feel like I'm joining in remembrance in this sense, with a sense of empathy for enough victims, and for women's social and structural discriminatory treatment, wage structure and other socio-economic positions," he said.
Lee Soo-jeong, a criminal psychology professor at
Kyonggi University
Kyonggi University (KGU; ) is an accredited, private higher education institution, established in 1947. KGU has over 17,000 students in majors in undergraduate and graduate programs on two campuses. The main campus is in Suwon, located 30 miles f ...
who sees the "targeted women" statement itself as "not credible," said after interviewing the assailant, "The level of schizophrenia was so severe that it was so difficult to make realistic judgments during schizophrenia that it was almost impossible to make a realistic judgment on a particular group of people." "It was an attack on something that looked weaker than yourself in
hallucination
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...
s or oblivion, not a misogyny crime," she asserted. It also stressed "poor management of the mentally ill."
On the other hand, the drug-induced
psychosis
Psychosis is a condition of the mind that results in difficulties determining what is real and what is not real. Symptoms may include delusions and hallucinations, among other features. Additional symptoms are incoherent speech and behavior ...
treatment was more effective than expected and suggested that "if someone had kept taking the drug now, it would not have happened now."
Lee Na-young, a sociology professor at
Chung-Ang University
Chung-Ang University (CAU; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is widely regarded as one of the best universities in South Korea. The university operates two campuses: main campus located in Dongjak District, Seoul, and a ...
, diagnosed it as "not a direct hate crime, but I think it can be seen as a crime caused by disgust imprinted on
unconsciousness
Unconsciousness is a state in which a living individual exhibits a complete, or near-complete, inability to maintain an consciousness, awareness of self and environment or to respond to any human or environmental Stimulus (physiology), stimulus. ...
." She also assessed how people accepted the case rather than whether an individual felt misogyny and killed it. She said it should look in the context of why the public has taken issue with the crime of misogyny, with many responding to the campaign to post a memorial note and criticize misogyny.
Some say the move is only natural when women are relatively weak in a male-dominated society. "This case is a crime based on innocent women's sacrifice and misogyny," Shin Kwang-young said "This could be an opportunity for us to strongly demand a new social-level awareness and response to misogyny because of the campaign." Shin said "Seeing this move as an overreaction means that the
Gender
Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures u ...
-aware education has not been done properly,” "The entire Korean society is male-dominated. Language violence, physical violence, and even murder are occurring based on misogyny, although they differ. It can be seen as a matter of society, not of individuals anymore," he stressed. "Public hate speech and crime against foreigners, women and minorities should be punished through legislation," he said. "We should also strengthen the perception that it is a serious crime through education."
Mental health stigma
Medical workers have voiced concerns about the crime being dismissed as a matter of '
mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
'. In a Korean study from 2019, crime rates of persons with schizophrenia were lower than the general population in most types of crimes, however the prevalence of murder was about five times higher, "suggesting a need for closer and more appropriate care for the population."
Crime vulnerability in public toilet
It was pointed out that the case occurred in men's and women's public bathrooms without door locks or locks were relatively vulnerable to crime.
Rep.
Pyo Chang-won
Pyo Chang-won (; born May 3, 1966) is a South Korean politician, with professional expertise in police studies and politics. He is a known expert on criminal profiling. He stated he wanted "to realize justice through politics", and announced h ...
, president-elect of the National Assembly, said, "The excessive crime risk sensitivity promoted by the government, which emphasizes unsafe environmental design (such as public restrooms) and advanced security countries, is also a part of the problem."
References
{{reflist
Deaths by stabbing in South Korea
2016 murders in South Korea