Minister's accusation of folktale hero as rapist legally challenged
Gender Equality and Family Minister Chung Hyun-back. Courtesy of Hankook Ilbo
By Oh Young-jin
Gender Equality and Family Minister Chung Hyun-back recently accused the woodcutter, the character in the folktale “The Woodcutter and the Fairy,” which can be found in the children section at the Cheong Wa Dae website, to press for her case of feminism. Captured from Cheong Wa Dae website
A prominent lawyer says Gender Equality and Family Minister Chung Hyun-back's depiction of a folktale hero as a kidnapper-rapist is not based on law but on herd mentality.
Hwang Ju-myung, a former judge and chairman of HMP Law, said Chung did not provide evidence to support her accusation and by her logic would have to prepare for a legal challenge from the woodcutter in the “Woodcutter and the Fairy.”
“Besides, it is being silly to accuse the character from the old story of such a heinous crime,” Hwang said when asked his legal view of the minister's argument. “As far as the law is concerned, it is hard to find any indication in it that he resorted to coercion to have sex with the fairy or to force her to live with him.”
Chung claimed during a seminar Saturday: “When in elementary school, I took a great pity on the woodcutter but seen from the standpoint of the fairy, two children she had with him, and the fairy's parents, he could be a kidnapper and rapist. The point of view should be changed in the context of achieving gender equality.”
The minister is a ferocious supporter of feminism and she attended a weekend pro-woman, anti-man protest and promised thousands of women that she wouldn't forget their voices.
The folktale is about a woodcutter stealing a fairy's clothing while she descends from the heavens to take a bath. They marry and have two children. But when the woodcutter breaks a secret pact and gives the clothing to the fairy, she flies back into the sky to see her parents.
The woodcutter is given a tip about the fairy's trip to earth from a deer, which is grateful for the woodcutter's help in hiding from a hunter.
The fairy is offered shelter at the woodcutter's home, and there appears no sign of forced sex in the story.
Hwang Ju-myung, chairman of HMP Law. Korea Times file
True, the woodcutter takes the clothing without the fairy's permission, which is theft.
“Theft is a crime that is probed and punished without the victim's complaint,” Hwang said. “Again from the story, it is not detected by any law enforcement officials and no investigation is conducted.”
He said it is frivolous to turn the old folktale upside down and dovetail the plot or fictitious characters to the needs of a given time.
“In this case, the minister should brace for a libel suit from the woodcutter,” he said.
Of course, there is a legal counterargument that a crime can be committed if it is seen that the woodcutter tries to use the fairy's vulnerability to have her under his influence and force her to marry him. Hoodwinking her over the clothing can amount to more than mere theft, strictly legally speaking.
But the real deal is that if Minister Chung's way of thinking is followed, a countless number of people may have to start changing the moral of the old story they read or were told in their childhood: from pious son who is blessed by a good spirit, to rapist and kidnapper who preys on women and holds his own children hostage.
With this fear in mind, would parents be willing to recommend children read any folktales again? This question is more an issue than the plaudits Chung received from feminists for her accusation.
For the woodcutter, he would need a lawyer.