Cops having a rough run of things lately — according to YTN, controversy now surrounds a video of a drug bust made last month at some foreigner’s home in Seoul in which the police spent much of the crime scene investigation showering foul language and racial epitaphs upon the suspect. YTN has a link to the tape for those who are interested in practicing their slang.
Having watched the film several times and discussed it with another blogger, in the cops’ defense (and there really isn’t much of one), they were mostly joking around, which I could understand given the Biblical amounts of controlled substances (to sell, not to consume) this asshat had in his pad. Doesn’t excuse the cops, of course, but watch the tape — you’ll see what I mean. What’s more, take a look at the actual suspect. God, what a tool. Seemed to have a sense of humor about the whole situation, though. I guess you’d have to, getting busted with that much shit.
In their own defense, one of the police officers involved later said, “They [i.e., the foreigners] only speak their own language among themselves. We can’t understand it at all. That [abusive] talk is only what we [i.e. Korean cops] say among ourselves.” OK, I guess that makes it all right then…
One interesting thing I did learn, however, was the slang term gura (???????), a lie. Gyeongsang provincial dialect, the word is apparently derived from the Japanese word for “to lie,” kura-masu. To give an example of its use, courtesy Seoul Metro police:
Cop A: “???????? ???????????? ???? ?????? ???? ???????????!”
Cop B: “???????????????????? ???? ????????”
Cop A: “Besides breath, all he does is lie.”
Cop B: “All the foreign bastards are like that.”
13 Comments
“Kuramasu” does not mean to lie (that is uso wo tsuku).
From the dictionary: kuramasu– conceal, hide, vanish into thin air, cover one’s tracks, go into hiding. (2) give someone the slip, put (a policeman) off the scent.
In the ballpark, but still no cigar…
i liked the part where they aske the “?™¸???†?” to show his teeth and then say he looks like dracula. lovely stuff…
my wife says that ?????¼ is ?‘œ?¤€, not ?²½??? ?????????, but she’s been wrong before.
A personally i’m not too bothered by the stuff they were saying. I’m not impressed with it, BUT if a guy gets busted back home i’d have little problem with the cops making fun of him.
They didn’t hit him, and i’m guessing they didn’t plant the stuff. If he’s that dumb to deal drugs in this country I think he’s got more than a few insults heading his way.
Juggertha, there’s no excuse for what those cops did. They are supposed to be professionals and should act like it. Racism should have no place in any institution.
Koreans have had to suffer from these kinds of unprofessionalism from the police for generations. I think it’s very good that they are finally getting the due deserved crackdown that they’re getting from the public.
Still, Korea has a long way to go in bing educated on racism. Ignorance still rules.
Good point(s), Kimbob. Acting like a professional — especially when the camera is rolling — is a minimum requirement of the job. I don’t care how low a policeman’s salary may be, there’s loads of young Korean men out there can perform these jobs better and deserve them more than the idiots featured here.
I’ve never heard of Kura while living in Seoul for 7 years as an elementary-middle school student. I’m leaning toward Kura being a Kyeong Sang Do dialect.
One Kyeong Sang Do lady in the US once said Tsu-Ri-Mae is a Korean word. Turns out it was a Japanese word. Said a Japanese lady in the US.
I’ve never heard of Tsu-Ri-Mae either. They be using a lot of Japanese derived words down in the South. Busan is probably still where all the latest from Japan are streaming in 1st hand to Korea. Not surprising.
See, this is why we have the Fourth Amendment in the US. God bless James Madison!
What’s the “Fourth Amendment”?
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Fourth amendment to the U.S. constitution, and one of the main articles upon which the whole “right to privacy” is based.
:+)
Bluejives - where you at? Please do write the funny story about the crazy white (don’t know why he has to be white - but ok) loser guy teaching English in Korea. You should be able to find many sites on the internet that can help you because they are filled with stories about “losers” who are here in Korea teaching English. Not all of them are white though. I am not going to dispute that there are some less-than-desired people teaching English here, but there are also some less-than-desired Koreans residing in the United States, and we know who they are, don’t we? (wink wink)
Actually this next post/article should make you happy.
Wishing you the best in your very LITTLE world
Robert Neff
A.K.A. Big Whitie
Kimbob I agree with you one hundred percent, but I really have very little sympathy for drug-runners. I can’t believe that the police had such little foresight that it didn’t occur to them that their language would come back and haunt them.
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