South Korea: a case of domestic violence

There is always tension and conflict between countries as seen in recent relations between Korean and Japan. Seventy years have passed since World War II but Seoul and Tokyo have not yet overcome their emotional hostility. Although the two countries’ economy developed enough t belong to OECD, the cultural index (Culture Quotient CQ) and the diplomatic index(Diplomacy Quotient DQ) are not mature yet. The two countries, called Asian leaders have grown but have yet to reach maturity.

An incident showing the dark side of Korea recently happened in the southern part of the country. Most Korean newspapers reported it on July 7. The police arrested a 36-year-old Korean man who assaulted his 30-year-old wife from Vietnam. The investigation is underway on a charge of assault. The man is accused of assaulting his Vietnamese wife several times with fists, feet and blunt force at his home in Southern Korea, Jeolla Province, around 9 p.m. on July 4. He also shouted at his two-year-old child who was crying over the violence. The wife was diagnosed with fractures of her ribs and other bones, which led to more than four weeks to heal completely. She is currently receiving hospital treatment and the child is being treated with protective measures at child institutions and other places.

A police investigation found that the Korean man used violence after drinking because she “did not speak Korean properly.” Really shameful things happened. In Korea which aims to become a multicultural nation, we are ashamed that this has happened again and we are sorry to the victims, their country and people. Most educated and virtuous Koreans feel and ashamed of their heart. A Vietnamese woman who left her country and set up a family in a strange country has the right to be happy. And the Korean community, the husband as well as his family are responsible for protecting the woman. But the result was the opposite. they used violence instead of protecting them.

I think the Korean man and the Korean society are both responsible for the incident. First of all, Korean society has lost a lot of its traditional values such as waiting, patience, and consideration as it has achieved rapid economic development. Individuals driven into the competition are largely oblivious to the virtues of the past in which they are working together, looking back at their neighbors in together situations than there were. A Korean man who lives in the country must have thought of himself as a loser in the competition. Without overcoming such sense of inferiority, he committed the folly of using violence against his Vietnamese wife whose situation is much more difficult and should be protected than he is. Of course, I think this could happen again in the future. However, the frequency will be much less. I believe that this incident will make many Vietnamese-Korean families learn something important when it comes to solving problems. I have two reasons for this.

Only 40 years ago, there was the term “Korean Time” in Korea. It was natural for Koreans to be a minute or two hours late for an appointment. However the term “Korean Time” is now-defunct in Koran society. There’s another one. It’s about smoking. This was a much more recent problem. The streets, classrooms, and even hospitals were filled with smoke. Currently, smoking is only allowed in very limited places. Even people who live in apartments will be found for smoking in their own homes.

Culture seems to change slowly but it can change rapidly in some cases. One of them was the 2002 World Cup. At that time, Koreans gathered from city to city and even from rural villages to cheer the Korean team. What’s more surprising is that people took back all the things they had brought and left no trash. Another interesting and meaningful event during the World Cup was about red. In Korea, the color “red” symbolized communism making it a taboo. At that time, Korean citizens wore red uniforms. Moreover, they added the word “Devil” to the read. That’s what became the Red Devils. Since then, the red complex about communism has begun to disappear in Korean Society. Park Hang-Seo was the coach of the Korean national team during the 2002 World Cup. He is the beloved coach in Vietnam. I’d like to seek forgiveness from the Vietnamese people for this abuse of Vietnamese wives. Also, I sincerely hope that his incident will melt the bad feelings between the people of both countries. There is a Korean proverb that I like. It goes “After the rain, the earth becomes stronger.” I hope this article reveals the free-hearted mind of Vietnamese people which Koreans should learn.