tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post297695566117827339..comments2024-03-26T03:31:06.199-04:00Comments on Ask a Korean!: What is All This About "Blood Money"?T.K. (Ask a Korean!)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-26383768918069310612015-11-30T01:20:09.268-05:002015-11-30T01:20:09.268-05:00There is a big problem with the Korean criminal pr...There is a big problem with the Korean criminal prosecution system but it is not "Blood Money". In, Korea, hospitals will give you a certificate of injury and keep you as an inpatient for weeks (usually up to 4) for even the smallest scuffle. The prosecutor will accept this as a the sole form of evidence that an assault took place even without eyewitnesses or CCTV. The prosecutor will then administer a fine. So, basically it is possible for someone to fall over beside you in the street in Korea and get you fined for it. Of course you can dispute the fine and bring it to a judge but the legal costs associated with that will always be more than the fine was. So, there are innocent people in Korea accepting fines everyday to avoid the legal costs of bringing it to a judge. The only good thing is that these kinds of fines do not appear on criminal records. n2015https://www.blogger.com/profile/00564811023548250587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-8450162403052556902012-11-17T10:03:20.366-05:002012-11-17T10:03:20.366-05:00I'm not a lawyer, but I have some experience a...I'm not a lawyer, but I have some experience and to my understanding, in Korea, assault is a crime regardless of who took the first swing or who provoked it. Therefore, when two persons are involved in an assault case, each hitting each other, the two are both held responsible. Obviously, the Korean law also acknowledges self-defense, but there's a very strict line, and the court tends to not recognize it unless for very clear-cut cases. Now, since your friend and the taxi driver both are responsible to each other for assault, each hold the right to receive settlement money, what you called, blood money. However, since you only mention of the taxi driver being injured, I'm going to assume that your friend was unharmed, hence the reason why only your friend had to pay.<br />If there was no injury, it's likely that the police would of asked you whether you really want to take this to the prosecutor and make it a full case, and more likely recommend for both parties to shake hands and go home.<br /><br />The Korean legal system as well as Korea it self, like every other country in the world, is not perfect.<br />But Korea is also not a primitive place where the law is stuck back in the 18th century.<br /><br />Hope you have a good time in Korea.UnderTheSeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12182975086648553535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-20286351526228472012012-11-07T06:25:17.083-05:002012-11-07T06:25:17.083-05:00What I feel like "The Korean" lacks in u...What I feel like "The Korean" lacks in understanding about the frustrations of foreigners and even Koreans regarding the issue of "blood money" in Korea and plea bargaining is his lack of experience with the ways these sort of situations occur in Korea. He may notice the parallel similarities in the general outcome but doesn't understand how the system might be skewed to favor a certain group. <br />Like Russia, there are known to be groups of people who specifically cause fights and arguments and goad people into hitting them. Sometimes to the point where the person defending themselves feel justified in their actions. <br />This is what happened to my friend who getting off from a cab felt slighted and asked the taxi driver if the taxi driver had said something offensive to him. The taxi driver jumped out from the cab and proceeded to curse off at the friend and posture. The friend fearing for his safety struck back when the taxi driver hit him. The taxi driver was injured, called the cops and the cops took the side of the taxi driver. Everyone saw that the taxi driver had hit the friend first and used profane language but it did not matter to the police. The friend had to pay up 2 million Korean Won. <br />This is common in Korea and the exchange of money takes place on the very spot. As opposed to plea bargaining which is stretched out and doesn't guarantee money. The police themselves also pressure the defendnt before it even reaches the ears of the prosecture.<br /><br />I believe the Korean also wrote a post about how he would prefer recieving the money right away in contrast to plea barganings which do not guarantee a certain sum on the spot. This shows that he acknowledges the differences, which is what most foreigners are attempting to argue in the end. Emily Kim https://www.blogger.com/profile/02508062982250522414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-22449383486086902412012-07-18T00:15:49.491-04:002012-07-18T00:15:49.491-04:00In Common Law Bs intentions are highly relevant as...In Common Law Bs intentions are highly relevant as the whole system is based upon the individual, agreed the US may do it different, but the US system is highly mixed with Civil law. Civil law is based on following the written law rather than by Case. Hence Frances Chinese Kanji -law country-. To see how far the US is from CommonLaw, one only need recognise the existance of Gauntanamo bay or the threestrike system, these are completely against the core notion of Habeaus Corpus, a kernal part of Common law.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00962773214731987941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-71437393008315086232012-04-15T22:39:10.075-04:002012-04-15T22:39:10.075-04:00(1) Would you mind throwing up a couple cites to t...(1) Would you mind throwing up a couple cites to the Criminal Code for settlement and dismissal generally? (Korean language is fine.)<br /><br />and <br /><br />(2) I think you are overlooking some of the mandatory victim restitution statutes in the US. Admittedly atypical, if we examine California we see that upon a plea of guilty (or nolo) to a crime, or possibly as a stipulation to a dismissal, a D must recompense the V. In San Diego, the prosecutor would handle the restitution suit. Free of charge. Effectively the V got a free lawyer to work through a quasi-civil suit (handled by the criminal courts), often with the extra leverage of "pay restitution or go to jail for violating probation" (checks did not take a year then). <br /><br /> The theory here is that the social deterrence and normative benefits of criminal law are undercut if V has complete power over dismissal (i.e., we want to dispense stigma) but that the "impotent fist shaking" another commentator mentioned or "$100/hour" in the post are also not adequate ways of assuring victims' compensation.<br /><br />Anyway still a very informative post.Darren Beanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08101911896341492642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-14100259044858142662011-11-17T02:52:19.153-05:002011-11-17T02:52:19.153-05:00This has easily been the most interesting thing I ...This has easily been the most interesting thing I have read in a long time. It really got me thinking about the pros and cons of each system. 1 thing I have figured out is that this certainly seems to be at least partially responsible for why the U.S. seems to have so much more violent crime than everywhere else. People are people and whether you are American or Korean we all get mad and make mistakes. I just depends whether your government counts each time someone goes to far with that anger .Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14179957566602173976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-5865232345506246052011-04-26T22:39:47.528-04:002011-04-26T22:39:47.528-04:00Perhaps the Korean or someone else can help with t...Perhaps the Korean or someone else can help with this... does anyone know of a book (in English) explaining the differences between Korean law and American law or just giving a general overview of Korean law? I have read about the differences in how traffic accidents are handled and the differences in libel laws here in Korea, etc. but have never been able to find a book on the subject in general. Thanks.Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02106754116548655754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-83906668453960598002011-04-11T13:39:08.982-04:002011-04-11T13:39:08.982-04:00andreac,
Sorry, did not watch Poetry yet so can&#...<b>andreac</b>,<br /><br />Sorry, did not watch <i>Poetry</i> yet so can't really tell you.<br /><br /><b>Sean</b>,<br /><br />"Hapuigeum" means "settlement payment" in Korean -- which is exactly what the payment is. And thanks for the link -- it really shows all the ignorance in full display. (And trust me on this -- the rich gets off these things just as easily in Common Law jurisdictions.) <br /><br />Here is the thing about the criminal settlement system: it is not at all a "Korean" system. It is the Civil Law system. The <i>exact same system</i> is used in France, Germany, Japan, Brazil -- any of the countries marked blue in the map in the post. In fact, if aliens landed on Earth tomorrow and studied the whole Earth's legal system, they would think the Civil Law system is the norm, and Common Law the exception. The fact that Korea has this system has nothing to do with whatever perceived characteristics that Korea has (e.g. maintaining social harmony, etc.)T.K. (Ask a Korean!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-23890888225937734912011-04-11T12:53:24.297-04:002011-04-11T12:53:24.297-04:00One of the main objections that most American'...One of the main objections that most American's have to "blood money" (apparently this is called "hapuigeum" in Korean?) is that it effectively lets the rich buy their way out of substantive punishment for their wrongdoings. Also, it appears that many foreigners have a different conception of legal liability than the Korean justice system, this post hear shows a fairly common view of the matter: http://whatthekimchi.blogspot.com/2010/05/blood-money.html<br /><br />My naive view of the issue is that the Korean legal system has more of an emphasis on maintaining social harmony and making the injured whole, while the US system is more concerned with accurately determining fault and assessing punishment based on such.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00538613239770522866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-10427898206679435642011-04-07T04:53:54.203-04:002011-04-07T04:53:54.203-04:00Seriously informative post, thank you! I have a qu...Seriously informative post, thank you! I have a question though - I'm not sure how related it is to the criminal justice system - but have you see the movie poetry? In which the families come up with compensation for a wrongdoing - I really donn't know how to categorise these in its proper terms. But how do you see such preemptive compensation for the victim (there clearly was one).andreachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03184705342628392833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-15432274395118486242011-04-06T20:48:08.973-04:002011-04-06T20:48:08.973-04:00brilliant!brilliant!Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18251591947919751870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-72779036803134180252011-04-06T13:30:34.247-04:002011-04-06T13:30:34.247-04:00busanmum,
Depending on what you mean by "cri...<b>busanmum</b>,<br /><br />Depending on what you mean by "criminal record." To be an "ex-con" (전과자), one has to go through the court system and actually get sentenced. But if one is arrested at all, the record of the arrest remains.T.K. (Ask a Korean!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-51988302360485102132011-04-06T08:59:14.207-04:002011-04-06T08:59:14.207-04:00Thank you that was really informative and detailed...Thank you that was really informative and detailed. I always wondered about this but no one has been able to explain it to me like this. THANK YOU!!!Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15336174015584972248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-81621635443404074712011-04-06T00:44:49.981-04:002011-04-06T00:44:49.981-04:00So, I was on the receiving end of this a few weeks...So, I was on the receiving end of this a few weeks ago (I'm an expat out here). It was a totally fair amount, with prompt payment and virtually no paperwork. Back home, I would have received...a chance to impotently shake my fist at the courthouse for awhile. <br /><br />But as much as I loved that arrangement, it did feel a little like hush money at first--thanks for making sense of it all.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05612079731960847261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-80360577896058772892011-04-05T22:36:34.308-04:002011-04-05T22:36:34.308-04:00Wonderful post. Thank you. I have one quick questi...Wonderful post. Thank you. I have one quick question, though. If A and B settle (A pays B for damages), does A end up with the crime on his/her criminal record? Or, does it have to go through the court system in order for A to end up with a record?<br /><br />Take rape, for example, as you bring it up throughout your post. If A rapes B and B chooses to settle by accepting a cash payment and not pursue the matter criminally, does A end up with a rape charge on his criminal record?<br /><br />It seems that in the States, basically every criminal charge and conviction end up on a criminal record. I wonder if it's the same in Korea?<br /><br />Many thanks in advance.Busanmumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03320706998016232470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-46657384364787195042011-04-05T20:13:54.484-04:002011-04-05T20:13:54.484-04:00Wow, what a great post. I had never heard of blood...Wow, what a great post. I had never heard of blood money in Korea and I sadly don't know much about my own legal system either. This explains so much.조안나https://www.blogger.com/profile/18436544214416169575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-2192683393027050292011-04-05T19:41:44.093-04:002011-04-05T19:41:44.093-04:00Thanks for posting! I learned a lot. I've bee...Thanks for posting! I learned a lot. I've been meaning to ask you about Korea's legal system but never quite had a specific question in mind (certainly not one about "blood money"; never heard of it before this post). I'm currently a 1L and am really interested in international and comparative law.<br />Could you recommend some sources about Korean law?<br />ThanksQue263https://www.blogger.com/profile/05416517478713564091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-12672387978624060712011-04-05T19:40:40.822-04:002011-04-05T19:40:40.822-04:00corruption exist in both systems. i don't kno...corruption exist in both systems. i don't know what is not to like about a system where the decision is quick and the victim gets compensation directly. less burden on the taxpayer and court. its seems to me that american system at some level is more backwards.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10143730092002481972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-50504429904299648482011-04-05T19:37:42.897-04:002011-04-05T19:37:42.897-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Que263https://www.blogger.com/profile/05416517478713564091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-3401336578321268542011-04-05T16:14:42.320-04:002011-04-05T16:14:42.320-04:00Thank you for writing such an informative article....Thank you for writing such an informative article. I don't believe any system is perfect--everything has its pros and cons. However, rather than seeming backwards or corrupt, having the perpetrator make restitution directly to the victim seems very logical and just.Marinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08381716889845002948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-61434511654820314352011-04-05T13:51:44.499-04:002011-04-05T13:51:44.499-04:00Yup. Actually, Korea's system comes straight f...Yup. Actually, Korea's system comes straight from Japan, which adopted it from Germany.<br /><br />God, seriously. I cannot fucking stand those people.T.K. (Ask a Korean!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-3400768787516743282011-04-05T13:38:44.680-04:002011-04-05T13:38:44.680-04:00Another thing about this phenomenon is that the ex...Another thing about this phenomenon is that the expats who become dedicated to their all-encompassing theories of the backwardsness of Korea typically hold up Japan as an example of a great, civilized nation. Which shows their ignorance of both nations because, for example, Japan has a very similar victim compensation system.Nathan Schwartzmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12180432639689575031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-1590129412413135532011-04-05T12:53:47.034-04:002011-04-05T12:53:47.034-04:00JacL,
"Mitigation" (in quotes because i...<b>JacL</b>,<br /><br />"Mitigation" (in quotes because it is a different concept in contracts law) is another way in which American jurisdictions attempt to emulate the private crimes system as well.<br /><br /><b>Matt</b> and <b>Michael</b>,<br /><br />Both valid concerns. The good news is that because of national health insurance, Koreans have a standardized chart to get a consistent cost for treating certain injuries. (Unlike in the U.S., for example, where two people with similar injuries caused by medical malpractice may receive a hugely different amount in compensation depending how well their lawyers do.) But the compensation for other things can be all over the place. Again, this is a particular problem with rape because often, rape is not accompanied by a particular physical injury. The Korean really thinks that rape as a whole, no matter what the kind, should be a public crime and be done with that. A standardized settlement guideline for all crimes and circumstances (similar to the sentencing guideline) would be also helpful.T.K. (Ask a Korean!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-49571529705857387272011-04-05T10:54:30.555-04:002011-04-05T10:54:30.555-04:00This was a very interesting article - thanks for b...This was a very interesting article - thanks for bringing your background and professional training to bear in the explanation. <br /><br />I've watched a lot of Korean movies where two parties take a trip to the police office and they immediately start hammering out an agreement. It always confused me - to be honest, at first I thought it was corruption until I saw it in several more movies. <br /><br />My question is this: Let's say that A (the perpetrator of the crime) is much higher on the social status scale than B. To what extent does this system expose the victim to pressure to accept a lower settlement (or even not to pursue one) in society structured like Korea? Is that often an issue? Or is it the reverse, that someone lower on the food chain finally has an advantage over someone higher than them, and person A might pay more money because they have more face to lose. This is surely an oversimplification of Korean society, but it's the first thing that I thought of when I read your post. <br /><br />Again, thanks for sharing. Very interesting info. <br /><br />YTGUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01005405338750612235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-13243309578966999812011-04-05T10:13:57.883-04:002011-04-05T10:13:57.883-04:00I've always liked the Korean system for the ex...I've always liked the Korean system for the exact same reason the Korean outlined - that the victim gets compensation and pretty quickly at that. That's fair and more ... humanistic. It's not much good to a victim of assault or theft if the perpetrator goes to prison but they receive nothing.<br /><br />On the other hand, the Korean system is still open to various types of abuse. For example, the police officer in charge of the case may get a cut and this may prejudice him/her in favour of one or other of the parties. 'Victims' may work the system by exaggerating their injuries perhaps conniving with a doctor do so. Of course, this is not to say that abuses of the system and corruption don't go on under the Commonwealth law system too.<br /><br />I'm not sure why expats refer to the compensation as 'blood money'. Blood money was the money a killer paid to the dead person's family back in Anglo-Saxon tribal days.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17226758157157715512noreply@blogger.com