If you are an avid fan of Korean dramas, then you probably can’t help but fantasise that your future partner would be like those charming oppas in the shows. Sounds like a fairy tale, right? Then you look at your boring and pragmatic boyfriend, who doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body and kiss your daydreams goodbye.
Well, ladies, we have bad news for you. Apparently, Korean men aren’t the best partners in the world because according to The Star, eight out of 10 Korean men admitted that they have used violence against their romantic partners. This was based on the results from a recent study conducted by the Korean Institute of Criminology.
Apparently, the study polled 2,000 Korean men and the results showed that 1,593 of them or 79.7 per cent stated that they had abused their partners while they were dating. But why, oppa? 🙁
On top of that, 71 per cent of these 1,593 men also admitted to exerting control over their girlfriends’ daily life and activities, such as stopping them from hanging out with their friends or isolating them from other people. Out of these, 485 men said that these actions included keeping track of their partner’s whereabouts, calling their girlfriends nonstop or regulating their attire.
Of the 1,593 men who said they abused their girlfriends, 37.9 per cent added that it involved sexual harassment, 36.6 per cent said they psychologically abused their girlfriends, 22.4 per cent used actual physical violence, 17.5 per cent sexually abused them and 8.7 per cent would inflict injuries on their girlfriends.
Further clarification on the psychological or emotional abuse said that 23.1 per cent slammed a door or stamped the ground in anger while 25 per cent said the physical violence involved groping their girlfriends’ breasts, buttocks or genitals without permission.
Almost 100 men admitted that they had assaulted their partners so badly that they left bruises or small scars on them. Some said that they had abused them until their girlfriends passed out or experienced a broken bone. Damn, that’s terrible!
One of the researchers, Hong Young-oh who led the study, explained that this behaviour originated from the patriarchal attitude of Korean men that has been ingrained in them for decades.
Hong said, “The high number of such actions show that the abusers themselves were not aware of or did not recognise their actions as dating abuse. But victims who had their activities restricted by their boyfriends saw it as serious enough to say that they wanted to break up.”
The study mentioned that these abusive boyfriends had previously experienced violence or emotional instability when they were younger, which were attributed to different types of violent actions while dating. The police are taking this issue seriously as the charges of physical violence against partners have increased and in late July, they launched a 100-day action plan to stop violence against women.
Korea Times reported that 61.6 per cent of women had been abused when they were dating, based on a survey by Korea Women’s Hotline. That’s a very high percentage!
Never stay in an abusive relationship, girls!
Also read: Woman Visits Her ‘Oppa’ in South Korea, He Steals RM11,000 Cash and Disappears