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A group of feminists in their 20s give the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office an “F” for their handling of the recent murder of a women near Gangnam Subway Station in Seoul

The signboard at the entrance of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul’s Seocho District was plastered on May 27 with red stickers in the shape of an “F” - indicating a failing grade. The women who put them there had gathered to protest the police and prosecutors’ conclusion that the recent murder of a young woman near Gangnam Subway Station was a “random act by an emotionally disturbed man.”

“The police and prosecutors use the term ‘random crimes’ to describe the assaults that keep happening to women,” said the group of around ten women, who identified themselves as feminists in their twenties.

The women staged a performance in which they demanded that the Gangnam murder and other crimes against women be acknowledged as motivated by misogyny and reinvestigated.

The word “misogyny” has surfaced as a major topic of discussion in South Korea in the murder’s wake. A spontaneous outpouring of memorial messages through post-it notes at the subway station’s Exit 10 has prompted many women to break their silence and describe - each in their own distinctive language - the hate, threats, and violence they have been subjected to on a daily basis. A battle of the sexes of sorts has also emerged, with men countering the claims of misogyny in the Gangnam slaying by arguing that all males are being painted as potential criminals.

But the general feeling among the South Korean public is that the society should reflect on why the schizophrenic delusions of the suspected assailant - a 34-year-old man surnamed Kim - led him to target a woman specifically.

Other voluntary online outpourings like the Exit 10 memorials include the appearance of different free expression platforms on Twitter and Facebook. Pages like “Public Debate on the Gangnam Murder,” “Gangnam Station Exit 10,” and “Exit 10 Speakers Corner” allow visitors to share their ongoing experiences with misogyny. Similar free speaking events for an end to violence against women have taken place in Seoul and the rest of the country, with women giving their own accounts of victimization.

“A lot of women saw all those post-its as testifying to their own lives and had the feeling that misogyny really has been present there,” said Lee Ji-won, the 24-year-old operator of the Gangnam Station Exit 10 Facebook page.

Many have also commiserated over experiences with misogyny in discussions on the causes of and solutions to crimes against women. A May 26 debate at Seoul City Hall titled “Emergency Talk on the Gangnam Murder: Gender Violence in the Republic of Korea Today” was attended by around 400 people - four times as many as organizers Korean Women’s Association United had predicted.

One attendee, Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center director Lee Mi-kyung, expressed astonishment at the anti-misogyny campaigns touched off by the murder.

“This hasn’t been a women’s movement centering on established groups - it’s been about individuals suggesting ideas and voluntary participation and practice from the public,” Lee said.

“As the murder has grown into an issue about violence against women, there’s been a notable change from the past in that people are become aware of their own experiences, helping and sharing, and giving voice to their anger,” she added.

Experts argued that the issue of misogyny in South Korea cannot be resolved simply through increased security on streets at night, better administration of individuals with psychological conditions, and better management of public restrooms such as the one where the murder was committed. Instead, they said the priority should be on ushering in a public debate on the various experiences with misogyny that have been shared since the slaying.

“When we turn discrimination into a personal issue, people tend to give up and blame themselves or their luck instead of resisting,” said Heo Min-sook, a research professor at the Ewha Womans University Korean Women’s Institute.

The effects of starting a public debate, Heo added, would include “allowing women to understand that other members of society are experiencing the same kind of victimization as them and helping people see why violence is a matter of discrimination and how a gender power structure is behind misogyny.”

There are also cautious views against viewing the current debate as a “battle of the sexes.” While members of the right-wing site Ilbe Storehouse in particular have been singled out as misogynists, they noted, their comments can be seen as an extreme caricature of the perspectives that many ordinary South Korean men hold toward women.

Ilbe members have been especially vocal in criticizing claims of misogyny in messages posted at Gangnam Station.

“[Donald] Trump wouldn’t have existed [as a presidential contender] without the support of white male workers who feel they’ve lost their status, and there would be no Ilbe without South Korean men who feel a sense of relative deprivation,” noted Kyung Hee university professor Lee Taek-kwang.

“The reason Ilbe felt empowered to go to Gangnam Station is because they see themselves as representative of South Korean men in this way,” Lee added.

“There’s something rather malicious about the attempt to avoid this issue and transform an issue of discrimination against women into a ‘battle of the sexes.’”

Some experts have called for greater efforts to establish gender equality in everyday life, noting that many young people grow up viewing derogatory terms such as “Kim Yeosa” (literally “Mrs. Kim,” referring to an incompetent female driver) and “seummantwi” (“to cop a feel and run”) as “all in fun.”

“If we want to promote sensitivity to human rights in sexual perceptions, we need to have a system in place for education in sexual equality for different groups and ages,” said Son Ran-hee, secretary-general of Korea Women's Hot Line.

“It would be all the better if that happened in public education,” she added.

Song went on to stress that crimes motivated by misogyny “are a social structure issue, not a personal one.”

“The key is that when a problem occurs, we need to actively complain and make protest visits to the police, the district office, or wherever we need to,” she said. “We need to demonstrate to take back walking on the street at night and put up post-it notes so that we can realize some kind of change.”

“Now that we’ve broken our silence, hopefully we’ll take this all the way.”

By Kim Mi-young and Park Soo-jin, staff reporters

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