Korea: Have You Ever Killed a Person?

A sixteen year-old Korean girl who became famous due to the extreme success of losing weight killed herself. To please her grandmother who was worried about her grand-daughter’s heavy weight, the girl lost about 40 kilograms in three months. Her story was introduced on a TV entertainment program. At that time, she took a photo with one of her favorite singers. Her death is assumingly caused by netizens’ ak-peul (notorious reply: trackbacks or comments which netizens abuse targeting specific people or events). The jealousy of the singers’ fans left ak-peul related to her news in internet and her internet homepage. Some of them even harassed her on her phone.
The exact reason for her death has not been cleared yet. But according to her friends and families, she has been depressed due to ak-peul. Recently several entertainers committed suicide due to ak-peul and depression. Some of the entertainers are suing a group of ak-peul-reo (people who do ak-peul). Bloggers brought the problems of netizens’ attitudes out.

A blogger, your inside, posted a netizen’s response right after her death with a picture that caused the problem.

다른 죄를 지은 것도 아니고 방송에 나와서, 그 기념으로 누구나 사진찍을 수 있는거 아닌가요? 밑에는 자살 후, 악플 단 사람의 글.

She didn’t commit serious crimes. Isn’t anyone willing to take a picture with his or her faviorite singers in order to keep it as a souvenior? There were even ak-peul after her death like below.

이미죽었는데 엘프가 미안하대서 살수도 없는거고 자살하신 여자분에겐 죄송하지만 어느누구라도 어느 누구 팬일지라도 그랬을거예요 몇명은 솔직히 질투나잖아요. 누군 아무리 만나고 싶어도 못 만나는데 고인의 명복을 빕니다. 하지만 그 정도는 예상하고 나오셨어야죠.

She’s already dead. It’s impossible to take her life back with the apology of the singer who feels guilty. I’m sorry to say this about the dead girl, but any fan could respond to her photo. They must have felt jealous because they make so much effort even to see the singer at least one time. I feel sorry for her, but she should have expected that much.

Her friend left her feeling on the internet and appealed to ak-peul-leo.

스타킹 출연 40kg자살한 소녀……….
제 친굽니다…………
듣는 순간 기분이 아득해지더군요.
나에게 왜 문자하나 하지 않았을까
하기만 했어도 난 널 막아줄 수 있었을텐데.
왜…. 왜 죽었는지…… 아니 왜 죽어야 했는지…. 악플 단 사람들이
협박 전화한 사람들이 그 사람들이 나쁜 사람들인데 왜 그 애가 죽어야 했는지.
외모로 사람들이 차별해도 살 빼고, 빼고…….빼…고…..
원망하지 않은 아이였는데…
그래도 이런 거 알려드리고 싶었어요. 여러분 제발 부탁이에요.
압니다. 여러분 싫어하시는 가수, 연예인 욕하고 싶은 거 이해해요.
그래도 제발 좋은 말로 해주세요.

A 40 kg girl who killed herself… she’s my friend…
when I heard the news, I felt numb. Why did she die… why did she have to die…
the people who put ak-peul and gave the threatening calls are bad. Why did she have to die? People discriminated against her with her figure, but she didn’t blame them… just tried to lose weight hard. I want to say and I want to beg. I understand you want to blame entertainers you don’t like. But please use nice words.

A blogger shared his experience, which reflected fear of ak-peul.

비록 제 일은 아니라고 하지만 이것은 곧 말하자면 우리 모두가 언제라도 피해자가 될 수 있다는 뜻이기에 덮어 둬서는 안될 일이라고 봅니다. 길을 지나치다 여중고생들을 봤을때, 가끔은 등줄기에 식은땀이 흐른다. 저 여학생들 중 누가 글쓴이의 블로그에 들어와 욕을 퍼부었을지 모르는 일이기 때문이다.

Even though it didn’t happen to me, anyone can be victims and we should not pass over it. Walking in the street and running into a bunch of female teenagers, I sometimes feel chilly. Because I might encounter ak-peul-leo in my blog.

소녀의 ‘원죄’는 “사진을 찍은 것”이었다. “네가 뭔데 우리 오빠와 사진을 찍느냐”는 것이다. 글쓴이도 매일같이 경험했던 것이다. “네가 뭔데 우리 오빠들을 욕하느냐”는 이야기는 소녀팬들과의 전쟁을 치룰 때, 하루도 빠짐없이 고장난 라디오처럼 들었던 뻔한 이야기였다. 하지만 소녀는 단지 사진을 찍었다는 이유만으로 욕을 먹어야 하는 사실, 그것도 문자메시지와 미니홈피에까지 도배되는 욕을 견뎌내야만 하는 사실을 감당할 수 없었을 것이다. 그 테러를 견디지 못한 소녀는 자살을 선택했다.

The sixteen year old girl’s ‘sin’ was to ‘take a photo.’ ‘How come you took a picture with our ob-ba (literally brother, indicating the singer)?’ That’s what I always experience. ‘how come you such a worthless person blame our ob-ba?’ That’s a common comment I hear everyday. But the girl who had to be blamed due to the picture couldn’t endure the fans’ curses. Not being able to put up with the terror, she chose suicide.

A blogger even suggested that schools should offer “how to deal with ak-peul” as classes.

제 1교시
우리는 악플에 노출될 수 밖에 없습니다.
과연 악플이 무엇이고 어떻게 대처해야 하는지 숙지해야 합니다.
제 2교시
적극적인 대처방법과 소극적인 대처방법이 있습니다.
예. 소극적인 방법은 악플에 노출이 되지 않도록 하는 것이겠죠.
적극적인 방법은 악플러들을 고소하는 것입니다.
그런데, 이것은 시간과 비용이 들기 때문에 현실적으로 어렵겠죠.
제 3교시
자 명상의 시간 악플을 보거든 마음의 평정을 찾고 절대 이성을 잃어서는 안됩니다.
호랑이에 잡혀가도, 정신만 차리면 산다고 하지 않습니까.
바로 그런 자세로 악플을 보더라도 정신을 잃지 말아야 합니다.

악플러 – 그 행동의 결과는 반드시 그에 맞는 책임을 지게 되어 있다.

First class: We can’t avoid being exposed to ak-peul. Learning how to cope with them.
Second class: Two methods to cope with them: active and passive tactics. The passive method is to avoid being exposed to ak-peul. The active response is to sue those guys. It’s a little bit difficult because it takes time and money.
Third class: Meditation. Regardless of ak-peul, you should not lose your temper and should keep the peace in your mind. There is an old saying that you can survive even though you’re caught by tigers if you have a cold brain. You should deal with ak-peul with that attitude.
ak-peul-leo – your behavior will force you to take responsibility.

Some of them say that the main reason for her death was depression after the serious diet. But the problems of ak-peul have become serious social issues in Korea.

Enjoy a music video and comics that bloggers made to criticize ak-peul-leo.

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