[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] “It’s because society sucks.”
This was the irritable reaction shown by Kang Yoon-sung (56), who surrendered after killing two women before and after cutting off his electronic monitoring device (electronic anklet), following his detention hearing.
So-called reality-frustration anger crimes, where individuals dissatisfied with their unstable reality commit assaults or murders against others, continue unabated.
According to the National Police Agency, the total number of people arrested last year for violent crimes due to dissatisfaction with reality was 2,293. Although this is somewhat lower than the 2,606 in 2019, it still means that more than six people per day are caught by the police for committing violence against others due to dissatisfaction with reality.
In fact, the number of people arrested for attempted murder due to reality-frustration anger crimes increased to 33, up from 28 in 2019. While face-to-face crimes have decreased due to the impact of COVID-19, attempted murders have rather increased.
Most anger crimes start from trivial quarrels or drinking sessions. They escalate into violent crimes when individuals fail to control their momentary emotions during conflicts of opinion with others.
For example, during the recent Liberation Day holiday, a man in his 40s who wielded a weapon against an acquaintance during a quarrel while drinking, and a man in his 50s who stabbed an acquaintance because he felt disrespected, were both arrested by the police.
Moreover, perpetrators tend to commit crimes against weaker individuals with lower defensive abilities. On the 20th of last month, a man in his 30s was booked for assaulting his girlfriend during a quarrel, resulting in her death.
The seriousness of these anger crimes is further heightened by the fact that they are directed not only at others but also at the perpetrators’ own families. Recently, teenage siblings accused of killing their grandmother, who had raised them for nearly ten years, were detained. The siblings stabbed their grandmother (in her 70s) dozens of times at their home in Bisan-dong, Seo-gu, Daegu, around 12:10 a.m. on the 30th of last month, causing her death.
Experts point out that the cause of such anger crimes is not simply to relieve the perpetrator’s own emotions. Professor Kwak Geum-joo of Seoul National University’s Department of Psychology explained, “There can be various reasons for perpetrators committing crimes against strangers. It may be to vent dissatisfaction with society or related to personal circumstances. However, the important point is that when they experience something that makes them angry, they express their anger toward someone weaker than themselves. Also, there are those who derive pleasure from this.”
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