Koreans don’t like cops. Americans don’t either, but due to Korea’s authoritarian history, they don’t like cops much more. Given the corruption in Korea, it is another factor. And Korean society isn’t as concerned about the more common violent crimes like we are in the US.

Americans are much, much more likely to turn to blows like Max said than Koreans. I was amazed how much bodily contact even drunks in Korea would tolerate without resulting to fists.

But, in the US, if pushing and showing and maybe a punch is thrown, people are much more likely to call the cops and a report will be written and another violent crime goes into the stats. If there is any sign of the violence, a black eye or bloody nose, it goes into the same column as someone put in the hospital. Also, in the US, if it is a domestic phycial confrontation, even without minor bloodshed, it often goes into the more serious assault column.

Koreans don’t call the police nearly as often, and I don’t think the police file such cases nearly as often when they are called.

I remember living near E-Mart in Pundang. Any given Saturday or Sunday, if you stood near the down escalator or the mandarin orange cage, you were going to see two Korean women going at each other at some point. Many shouting matches, but also many hair pullings and slaps.

In the US, that gets the police and a report and maybe a check in the violent crimes stat sheet.

Not in Korea.

Also, how many times have you seen on the Korean news drunk ass people in the small police stations or the ones near the entertainment areas where the drunks scream at the cops and even push and pull on them or worse. How many of the times you see that does it look like those people are locked up?

In the US, that’s don’t play at all. You lay a hand on a cop like that, or you go to a police station raising a big drunken stink, you are going to the ground and get locked up — and a stat goes into the violent crimes column — because physical confrontations with the police are viewed as very serious.

I’m not saying the US isn’t violent or that Korea isn’t peaceful.

American society is violent. Korea is much safer.

But, focusing on the stats primarily is significantly misleading.

And the earlier note about rape — a pretty f-ing serious violent crime — in Korean society is spot on.

I remember hearing a good bit in the 1990s how some cat burglars would routinely rape the wife or daughter in the apartment so the family would not report the break-in, because they didn’t want the family to wear the shame in public.

Not while Kim Jong Il lives across the border.

“In terms of rate of solving rape cases, Taiwan had the highest solving rate, which was 92.05%. South Korea had a solving rate of 90.92%. Japan had a solving rate of 88.2%. France had a solving rate of 85.20% and U.S. had a lowest solving rate, which was 49.90%.”

The victim, a Korean college student, did not understand what kind of people he was associating with. Because of his lack of knowledge, he is baseballbatted to death.

Korean students should be warned about American society and dangerous types. Some violent and drug-crazy people live in the US.

I realize that infantile politics is the only brand you know and practice, LiceBearer, but do you have to inject your nonsense into the tragedy of young Park’s death?

First, it’s hard to buy self-defense. Still, it’s possible that the altercation may have started in self-defense — the jury’s analysis should focus on whether there was a moment at which the apprehension of danger had passed and the killer-in-self-defense could have gotten away. If he continues his attack after that point (say, by going for the baseball bat) it constitutes a criminal battery. However, the level of violence described in this case possibly indicates, if true, some form of impairment on the perpetrator’s side — either he’s retarded, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or insane. Those are things which sometimes result in acquittal or reduced sentence if the perpetrator is not black (I’m not saying this is just, simply that it is so).

Second, without dispute Korea is one of the safest places in the world to live and raise kids. Even with the enhanced possibility of getting struck by a vehicle and killed, the complete absence of a sense of menace on the streets of Korea is a real plus. As a father I do worry about the general social tolerance of molesters, but on the whole when assessing dangers to myself and my daughters, I believe this society deserves recognition and high praise for personal safety. Sometimes I travel to lawyers’ conferences in “world cities” like Prague, Auckland, Brussels, Madrid, San Francisco, Durban (South Africa), and Acapulco. Every last one of these places has characters on the streets at night (in Durban and San Francisco during the daytime) who are really unnerving to be around. When I return to Korea there is a palpable sense of relief that I really don’t have to look out for muggers and stabbers.

This last thing is something that AmCham (since it’s a boosterish organization now) and KOTRA should really emphasize, if only to compensate for some of the annoying negatives.