Dating violence

In May last year, a man in his 20s killed a middle-aged man and his wife. The murderer was ex-boyfriend of the couple`s daughter, and the problem started when he was using violence against her. The girl`s parents who came to know that, met the man`s parents and warned them to keep their son away from her. The man then had a grudge against her girlfriend`s parents, which resulted in a horrible murder.

Dating violence is hot topic in social networking sites these days. There have been a series of progressive debaters acting violently to their lovers. Former girlfriend of Han Yoon-hyung, who published a book titled "New Right User Comment," wrote on her blog on June 19 claiming that she was continuously beaten by him between 2008 and 2012. Han apologized but added an explanation, to which criticism rose. He apologized again and announced the end of his writing career. Soon later, another woman claimed she suffered the same, adding she was encouraged by her. She pointed to Park Ga-boon who wrote "Ilbe`s Ideas" that denounced the attitudes of members of “Ilbe (Daily Best),” a far-right website. Park denied the allegation.

Dating violence refers to physical, mental and verbal violence while dating. This can`t be taken lightly as a simple fight of couples. Violence rarely stops even as one side pledges not to use it. According to National Police Agency data released by an opposition political party member, 36,362 people suffered violence and sexual assault from the person she or he was dating, while 290 people lost their life.

One said, "My ex-boyfriend who beat me is having a happy life as a progressive writer," and the other said, "I believe that a person who is committing violence and abusing power coming from gender gap should not comment and act in the public arena." They wanted to make known the hypocrisy of progressive debaters and to prevent other potential victims from suffering. Han and Park are members of the progressive Labor Party, which said on Tuesday, "We will take effective action based on our party`s values and standards." Much attention is on whether the progressive forces can take to public stage the shameless acts of beating girlfriends behind the scenes while advocating feminism on the surface.

mskoh119@donga.com