Dangerous family?

By Kim Ji-myung

The names of three women ― the wife of Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, Lee Myung-hee, and their two daughters Cho Hyun-ah and Cho Hyun-min, have now become household names in Korea. By any standard, the three women's rude behavior and morbid personalities have invited a limitless level of criticism from the public.

Lee Myung-hee has come under investigation for physically assaulting employees. She and her daughter were also charged with the illegal hiring of foreign maids. The first daughter began this series of scandalous incidents with the "nut rage" affair more than four years ago in 2014. She was an executive vice president of Korean Air at the time. Hanjin Group is the largest shareholder of Korean Air.

Last year, the second daughter also was charged for alleged violence toward employees. They are also charged with tax evasion by illicitly importing luxury items through private luggage, evading standard search procedures.

Enraged, many citizens joined an online petition on the Cheong Wa Dae homepage demanding to usurp the title of Korea's "national flag carrier" from Korean Air, which is a nongovernment airline.

The court turned down the warrant of confinement for Lee Myung-hee. Lee reportedly argued that she was an "ill patient" who needed a medical doctor, and not a criminal who should be punished. She submitted a medical doctor's statement diagnosing her as having "rage control disorder."

While fully understanding the factors involved in the situation, I cannot but wonder if I am alone in feeling discomfort as I keep silently watching the whole evolving process of this scandalous incident.

Acts of crime, which are violations of law, should be duly punished and rectified. Neglect of moral and ethical obligations as a decent citizen need to be fixed by reasonable and suitable ways.

And yet, no one should be victimized by excessive exposure and emotive condemnation which exceeds justice. History has shown how people can easily fall into such a temporary fallacy through mass psychology.

Was it really necessary for all the network and cable TV channels to show again and again the scenes of abusive words and violence, filmed by hidden cameras?

We also have seen giant cover-page photos of Chairman Cho and the family standing as suspected criminals before entering the prosecutors' office for repeated questioning.

If we talk about unpredictable acts of leaders, there is Donald Trump. "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump" was published in 2017 and became a New York Times bestseller.

"Mr. Trump, in the office of the presidency, is a danger to the nation and to the world," said editor Dr. Bandy Lee, a violence expert from Yale School of Medicine, on behalf of thousands of concerned professionals.

But he added the principles of their professional ethics will be upheld, referring to the Goldwater rule, from Section 7 of the American Psychiatric Association: It is unethical for psychiatrists to give a professional opinion about public figures whom they have not examined in person, and from whom they have not obtained consent to discuss their mental health in public statements.

Yet medical doctors in Korea are very often quoted by media about specific figures under investigation, for example, as in the case of the Korean Air family. In general, there seems to be no strict sense of ethical restraint.

Meanwhile, Lee Su-jeong, professor of criminal psychology at Kyonggi University, reviewed Lee's 20-minute video clips. Prof. Lee diagnosed Lee with a personality disorder rather than a rage control disorder. She thought Lee's behavior varied depending on the targets.

I doubt if this diagnosis came with any ethics principle in mind or the consent of Lee. What does the public gain from such comments?

The consequences for the Cho family due to their crimes and tainted public image were grave. At the company's recent general meeting, shareholders removed Cho from the representative CEO's seat, the first such case in Korea.

Yet this scandal raises the question of what good comes from such "villanization" and diagnosis of poorly behaving, powerful public figures. Will it serve as an example to persuade others not to act in such ways? Will it change the working conditions and mindset at the top of chaebol?

We should be more careful to draw a clear line between deserved justice and sensationalized villainization, and to consider whether or not mass public shaming is productive.

The writer (Heritagekorea21@gmail.com) is the chairperson of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage).

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