20 years ago in 2004, a tragic incident occurred in Miryang. It was 44 students in a group in Miryang who raped a female student. Lately, the incident that has been forgotten in people’s memory, was come out to the surface by a YouTuber. In June 2024, an anonymous YouTuber released the identities of Miryang’s sexual violence assailants. After the video was uploaded, the society of Korea was shocked. However, a similar thing happened only 2 years ago. In May 2022, in the case of the Busan Seomyeon Turning Kick incident, where a woman kicked her head and collapsed on her way home in May 2022, also a Youtuber caused a huge stir in society by opening the identity of the assailant to the public. As the number of cases that which a criminal’s identity is disclosed by an ordinary person has increased recently, there are pros and cons among people about releasing the criminal’s identity.

 What do students at Kyonggi University think about the disclosure of the criminal's identity? To know various opinions, we survey from July 7th to July 10th. Eighteen students participate in the survey. About 56% of all students agreed to disclosure of the criminal's identity, 33% opposed it, and about 11% said they did not know it. Also, the reasons for choosing the answer were as follows 

 1. Agreement 

- It’s for the common good. 

- Because of having to pay for sins. 

- It is to stop a second conviction when a criminal is released from prison. 

- Korean laws are too weak and it seems to be a country that protects criminals. It would be nice to disclose the identity of criminals and prioritize victims like advanced countries.

- This is because we need to know who the criminal is to be careful. 

- This is because only victims are always disclosed, and criminals are not disclosed in the name of respect for the human rights of criminals.

 2. Disagreement 

- Anyone can disclose the personal information of criminals, so it is not controlled. If the criminal's identity is disclosed, it can be believed that the criminal is paying a price, but if the wrong personal information is disclosed, there is a risk that such belief can be altered. 

- There is a risk that the general public may be exposed to crime due to inaccurate facts. And second victims can be occured. Lastly, unauthorized mass-produced YouTubers and internet rack cars have no right to disclose information. 

- Disclosure of identity by ordinary people is less legally justified or professional. 

 3. I don't understand. 

- It may be unfair to disclose a person who is a criminal for sure, but it may be unfair to disclose it while this person is not a criminal yet and has only been accused. 

- I think that ordinary people such as YouTubers disclose the identity of criminals, they should at least disclose their personal information and not hide in anonymity.

 To summarize the opinions of the agree about the disclosure of the criminal identity of the general person, first, is that the right of general citizens to know should be respected. They have a positive opinion because it is possible to prepare and prevent other incidents. In addition, it can have positive effects on society by being aware of crimes. Knowing about the information of criminals is the right of the people. Next, it is the prevention of various crimes. When a criminal’s identity is disclosed, criminals fear that their personal information will be known to society, so the second offense rate can be decreased and similar crimes can also be reduced. 1,662 sexual violence assailants registered on the Internet sexual violence assailants information disclosure cite, ‘성범죄자 알림e’, conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in 2012, only 2 assailants committed crimes again after their identities war disclosed, and it is about 0.1%. It proved that the disclosure of a criminal’s identity is effective in decreasing the second offense rate. Next, it is possible to protect victims. In Korea, a criminal’s identity is disclosed only when it is under the exemption law about sexual violence crime and violent crimes. Identity can be disclosed when the means of crime is cruel or serious damage occurs, or for the public profit such as preventing a second offense. It is possible to protect victims and block contact with criminals. Last is the public opinion. When the identity of the assailant of the Busan Seomyeon turning kick incident was disclosed by a Youtuber in the past, about 60% of the opinion that the assailant’s identity should be disclosed in a survey conducted by ‘Realmeter’ that public opinion poll agency. In other words, it means that the majority of the public agrees about disclosing the criminal’s identity. Thus, it is argued that the disclosure of the criminal’s identity has a positive effect on society and should be realized for the public profit. 

 Next, There are oppositions to the disclosure of criminal identities by ordinary people. First, we should protect the human rights of criminals. Criminals are already punished through a penalty by presiding judge. But, there is no reason for criminals who have already been punished through new disclosure. Second, there are almost no effects of crime prevention. Criminals who have already committed crimes are likely to commit crimes again. In addition, in order to prevent crime, the fundamental cause and solution of crime must be found, not the disclosure of personal information. Third, secondary damage is related to the suspect. In other words, damage may occur to the suspect's family, people around him, and the area where the criminal lived. In fact, a lot of secondary damage occurred when sex offender Cho Doo-soon was released from prison. Representatively, the clothing brand called Eider saw its sales plunge because it was worn by him, and people near his house suffered from loud noise day and night due to the sudden influx of people from other regions. Fourth, when ordinary people disclose personal information, many problems such as disclosure of other people's personal information or dissemination of false information may arise due to the unprofessionalism of the general public. Lastly, the identity of the innocent person may be disclosed and damaged. Actually, there was a case that the identity of a man who was stigmatized as a sex offender in Gangwon-do was disclosed before he was found not guilty, causing great controversy. In other words, those who oppose it, say that the human rights of criminals must be protected and that it has no crime prevention effect and can harm victims, people around them, and even innocent people. So, the pros and cons of disclosing the identity of criminals are currently hotly divided in Korea. 

  Just as students participated in the survey a lot, the issue of revealing the identity of criminals by ordinary people is a big concern in our society and has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Then why on earth did ordinary people have to disclose the identity of criminals? There are various opinions about this question. It can be interpreted as a direct action to solve social problems because the people's belief in public power is low. Or it can be interpreted that It's just to get people's attention. It is also necessary to discuss the disclosure of the criminal identity of the general public itself, but it is time to discuss how to solve the problems inherent in our society.

79th Reporter • CHO SEO YUN  • jeoyum@gmail.com

81st Reporter • CHOI MIN SEOP • choi2005120@gmail.com