“Gangsters Connected with Politicians Are Respected as Heroes“

The Times Asia recently published an article about mobsters (Jopok) in Korea, making the word `jopok` that was popular last year in Korea an international term.

Under the title of `The Way of The Fists` the Times described that the Korean gangsters sometimes display bizarre behavior like publicly expressing their patriotism and enjoying public popularity and political influence.

The Times mentioned the so-called pinkie finger cutting ceremony, in which a group of gangsters cut their pinkie fingers to protest the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro on Independence Party to Seoul in early August of last year, as an example of such bizarre behavior.

The Times explained that the pinkie finger cutting of the Korean gangsters is not derived from the yakuza but rather that "The gesture was immortalized by independence fighter Ahn Jung Koon."

The Times also reported on the big success of gangster movies in Korea last year and analyzed that "films about the underworld tap into a nostalgia among the older generation about a simpler Korea when loyalty, sacrifice, and respect for hierarchy counted for more."

However, the Time indicated that public`s admiration of mobsters was a strange phenomenon since, in real life, most mobsters make their living by extortion, prostitution, and gambling.

The Times also reported that the Korean gangsters have had connection with Korean celebrities, as demonstrated in the case of godfather Yeo Wu-Hwan who is suspected to be connected with the `Lee Yong-Ho Gate` and has to have contacted Kim Hong-Il, son of President Kim Dae-Jung.

The Times also added, "Koreans may root for gangsters in the movies, but nobody wants to see the fists getting their hands on real power." For example, the Times reads, "There is no evidence that the President`s son, Kim Hong Il, himself a legislator, broke the law. His crime may be the company he keeps. [However] the scandal has already bruised President Kim badly despite his announcement of a nationwide crackdown on organized crime."

Sung-Kyu Kim kimsk@donga.com