South Korean man who attacked ‘feminist’ shop worker over short hair jailed for 3 years
- The man punched and kicked the store worker, resulting in multiple injuries, and also injured a shopper who attempted to intervene
- Rights groups slammed the verdict for failing to recognise the case as a hate crime, as the victims express disappointment over the lighter punishment
A court in Jinju, about 280km from Seoul, ordered the man to pay 2.5 million won (US$1,850) in compensation to the shop’s owner and 10 million won (US$7,400) to a customer who was injured while trying to stop the attack in November last year.
According to police, the intoxicated defendant reportedly told the woman employee: “Since you have short hair, you must be a feminist. I’m a male chauvinist, and I think feminists deserve to be assaulted.”
He later punched and kicked her, resulting in multiple injuries, including hearing loss.
The accused also used a chair to hit the shopper who attempted to intervene, causing grievous injuries to his shoulder and nose, the court heard.
The prosecution had sought a five-year jail term, but the court said psychological evaluation of the man showed he was in an unstable mental state at the time of the incident.