A video uploaded to YouTube of men manhandling a woman and verbally abusing her in a South Korean club has sparked outrage across the country.
The video went viral in Korea after it was upload to YouTube and embedded on the Korean portal Jagei.com. The story was covered by South Korean press and has sparked widespread debate about the way Western tourists treat women while visiting the country.
The Washington Post is carrying a blog on the video, which includes a link to the YouTube video, as is Irish website Broadsheet.ie - though they have only uploaded a short clip.
The 78-second clip shows men, with Irish and American accents, grabbing the woman’s face, poking her and telling her she needs plastic surgery. There appears to be three men present, holding the woman against her will and sticking their fingers in her nose and mouth.
The woman tries to get away but the men hold her back and tell her she’s disgusting and needs plastic surgery “like every other little Korean.”
She eventually manages to get free and leaves. As the Washington Post’s Max Fisher put it, she “is the closest this story gets to having a hero.”
According to some reports the video is a fake. One commenter on Max Fisher’s article said “All the people were paid actors / actresses. The director is Korean and wanted to get famous for doing some edgy viral videos...I know all this because I am one of the men in this video. I do not condone the actions that I did.”
However, as Jezebel points out, it does not matter whether it is fake or not as the debate on the taboo of how these men are treating this women has already began.
New Media Rock Stars reports that South Korea has issued a public service announcement warning about “the Western mentality” towards women.
The video is very disturbing, although only 78-seconds long, and can be viewed on YouTube here.
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