They spent from six to 12 hours at a PC room daily, engaging obsessively in games and leaving their baby alone at their home without food or care. The baby was found dead on Sept. 24.
An autopsy by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation determined that the death was mainly caused by a "lengthy period of malnourishment."
At the time of the baby's death, Kim made a report to the police. "When we woke up, we found that the baby had died," he said. But the couple at the time denied charges of negligence.
After the funeral, the couple disappeared, but the policed tracked them down and arrested them on Tuesday.
During an investigation after the arrest, they admitted their role in the baby's death and said that they have shunned PC rooms for the last five months due to a "sense of guilt."
The Daily Mail article says:
Police said the Kims had become so obsessed with the daughter they were raising online that they appeared to have not taken their responsibility to their real daughter seriously.
Korea doesn't have guns and basically has no drug problem, but what it does have is high-speed internet and lots of it, and that has led to other social ills. The Korea Herald has a couple other recent examples in its article about the arrest:
A 22-year-old man was caught and indicted last month for murdering his mother because she continuously nagged him for spending too much time playing games. After his crime, the man headed to a nearby internet cafe and continued his game, said officials.
Last July, a 21-year-old man was arrested for killing his mother, blaming her for her internet addiction and neglecting the family.
Another story that came quickly to mind is out of Gwangju, where in 2002 a 24-year-old died after playing in a PC room for 86 straight hours. Google will be your friend for more information on the topic. Last year PBS's Frontline did a documentary about "The Most Wired Nation on Earth,"
FRONTLINE/World correspondent Douglas Rushkoff travels to South Korea to take the measure of a country considered one of the most wired places on Earth. What he finds are families and a government grappling with the downside of its digital revolution: Internet addiction.
and just two weeks ago The Marmot's Hole brought up a recent PBS documentary on internet addiction in South Korea (Edit: They're clips from the same 2009 piece, with the second link having only smaller bits of the 13-minute video.)
17 comments:
That seriously sucks. No need for analysis, the situation all around just sucks.
Yes it's tearing the nation apart. Do your part as the paternalistic American and start a campaign to tear out every Internet connection to save these fool Koreans from themselves.
arilevi, shut the hell up.
just tell me what the problem is.
do you only allow posts that agree with your perspective or what?
if that's the case I'll stop posting if you can't take what you dish out.
honestly I am posting commentary on your articles, you have to admit you come across as a humorless twat, I'm trying to lighten things up
Well, can you tell me what
"Do your part as the paternalistic American and start a campaign to tear out every Internet connection to save these fool Koreans from themselves."
has to do with anything written here?
I allow comments from people with a variety of opinions, including plenty that don't agree with mine. But don't be a jackass or a troll on this site. And don't insult the author if you want to keep the privilege of commenting here. First and last warning.
So sarcasm isn't welcome on this site?
Do I have to agree with your take on the stories in order to post?
Maybe I think you're overreacting? I can't post something light to that effect?
I'm not trying to insult you dude. But what are you telling me that I have to agree with you in order to post? Everyone is so serious concerning matters that to me seem like cultural differences and annoyances in living in a different culture. Do I have to do like everyone else and post from some frustrated or angry place about Korea.
I'm not sure where you expect things to go when you open up by posting "ari shut the hell up."
On second thought forget it.
I thought this was a site where expats could talk about crap that goes on in Korea from different perspectives (and I understand where some of your frustration comes from)but I guess only a certain perspective is allowed.
Good luck with your site
Quite sad, really, yet it boggles the mind that the parents could do that. It seems somewhat akin to gambling addiction.
You're a strange character, and that was a strange 45 minutes.
reminds me of the movie trainspotting and the infant death depicted in the movie... only this isn't cinema & I feel sick to my stomache from thinking about it
Arilevi: "Everyone is so serious concerning matters that to me seem like cultural differences and annoyances in living in a different culture."
The article was about a couple that killed their child through neglect, DUDE. You are either suggesting that's 1) just a Korean thang, and 2) no biggie, or you're not really paying attention to anything you're reading, including this guy's legitimate criticism of your tone on his site. In spite of your attempts to make it so through the magic of repetition, he wasn’t criticizing the content because there was none there [i.e. you never presented any substantive opinion]. By the by, this is recognized as a serious problem within Korean society—to poopoo it as a ‘cultural difference’ demonstrates both ignorance about and condescension to a people you have no place speaking for.
I don’t frequent this site. I’m not really interested in Korean culture or the debates between people who defend it or complain about it. But I simply cannot abide rude trolls. Congratulations: you have attracted negative attention. Is it really better than no attention at all, like the shrinks tell us?
Well, the only thing this shows is that S. Korea is unfortunately experiencing (albeit at *much* smaller levels) a few of the sicknesses and criminal ills that the U.S. has in absolute abundance in just about every category.
Arilevi
We'll take you seriously when you stop making stupid straw men and false dichotomy arguments. You've said nothing new that 100 different trolls over the last couple years haven't said and said better.
A blog, say, about the economic problems of Israel, written by an American economist, does not imply he's arguing America is without economic problems or America doesn't make the exact same errors. Anyone who goes howling at the wires claiming that would just seem stupid. Very stupid. Sophomoric stupid. Contributing zero to the discussion stupid.
Get it?
There's a great blog called The Grand Narrative that focuses on gender inequality in Korean media. Is the author saying there is no gender inequality in American media? No. The blog author is just showing us how Koreans manifest gender inequality.
Get it?
Well, the only thing this shows is that S. Korea is unfortunately experiencing (albeit at *much* smaller levels) a few of the sicknesses and criminal ills that the U.S. has in absolute abundance in just about every category.
I'm sorry, would you care to back that up with some facts ro figures or even examples or are you just talking out of your ass?
CTRP,
This kind of crazy criminals happen everywhere.
Few years ago, my friend's neighbor, she went to night club with her boy friend while leaving an infant at home, of course, the baby died before the mother came home early next morning.
There are more unbelievable stories... where i live in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbq0TsDsMBc
http://badbreeders.net/
http://amanda-marie-elliott.blogspot.com/2009/09/4-month-old-baby-killed-in-gang.html
Sarcasm can be a sharp blade. But as with its physical counterpart, it should have a purpose and a steady guiding hand. Sarcasm for sake of sarcasm is a terrible indulgence that perhaps should be earned, or you devalue its effects.
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