Hyehwa Station Protest

"Molka" (Korean: 몰카, Korean pronunciation: [mo(ː)ɭkʰa]) is the Korean term for hidden cameras installed secretly and illegally to capture voyeuristic images and videos. Hidden cameras are often installed in public washrooms or hotel rooms, and typically target women. Molka crimes in South Korea go unreported or undetected, and suspects are often not sentenced. In 2017, more than 5,400 suspects were arrested, but fewer than 2% of cases resulted in prison sentences.[10] In September 2018, government officials announced that 8,000 employees would be assigned to inspect 20,554 public washrooms, after several cases of hidden cameras in toilet stalls were reported.[11][12] Authorities have warned the public to pay attention to certain locations because of molka crimes.[13] In June 2021, the Human Rights Watch deemed South Korea the number one country in the world for spy cam use and its usage for digital sex crimes.[14]

Voyeurism in general is an issue in South Korea. Some offenders use cameras to take pictures or record videos of women, often in public while following them around. These pictures and videos, like molka images and videos, are often posted online, where it is difficult for victims to remove them, let alone know they are victims.[11] Soranet, a website hosting voyeuristic images, was shut down, and its owner arrested, following a decade-long investigation.[15][16]

In 2016, following the murder of a woman at Gangnam Station by a man whose reasoning was his hatred for women, South Korean feminists held the Gangnam Station Post-it Note protest, when people gathered at a station exit to leave flowers and messages written on Post-it Notes expressing their condolences and raising awareness about gender discrimination, misogyny, and gender inequality.[17] The protest continued with rallies, including a march on Sinnonhyeon Station, a subway station adjacent to Gangnam Station.[18] This predated the Hyehwa Station Protest by two years, and was similar in nature.[19]

The #MeToo movement also gained traction around the time of the Hyehwa Station protests.[19][20]

On 1 May 2018, a male nude model, whose identity remains anonymous, was photographed nude without consent by a female offender at Hongik University.[21] The 25-year-old female offender, surname "Ahn", was also a nude model working with the victim for a life drawing class in a Hongik University lecture room. During a class break, Ahn was involved in a dispute with the victim. Ahn secretly photographed him, and later that day, she uploaded the picture on the radical feminist website Womad.[21] After the picture was uploaded, the victim was doxed and cyberbullied by radical feminists on the site;[22] Ahn promptly disposed of her phone in the Han River, which led to suspicion when she refused to provide her phone to police as evidence.[23] Ahn was arrested two days later and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.[23][24]

The handling of the incident and Ahn's arrest raised allegations of double standards and gender inequality, as feminist activists alleged police investigators only arrested Ahn so quickly because, unlike most other sexual harassment cases, which are mostly unresolved because of lack of evidence or the difficulty of investigation, the victim was a man and the perpetrator was a woman.[9][23] Activists pointed to previous incidents, such as the acquittal of a Seoul man for allegedly taking upskirt pictures of a woman in a subway station, as proof that sex crimes investigations are biased in favor of men.[23] Over 300,000 people signed a petition to the Blue House calling for a new and fair investigation of the case.[23]

President Moon Jae-in denied allegations of bias in the police investigation process. He rejected the claims of protesters, saying, "In the case of male perpetrators, the rate of arrest and severe punishment was higher. In the case of female perpetrators, it was generally treated lightly. This is common sense."[35] In South Korea, younger men do in fact tend to receive heavier punishments, especially when the victim is a woman.[36] Moon was heavily criticized by the protestors, who campaigned on the promise that he would be a "feminist president"; protestors said he had gone back on those promises and was refusing to listen to their concerns.[1][26]

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Minister Chung Hyun-back stated on 16 May 2018 that she would discuss concerns with the Hongik University investigation with police officials.[28] Chung visited the third rally on July 7 to voice her support for them and better understand their concerns.[1]

Police were deployed to secure the protests and prevent clashes between protestors, passerby, and police. A large number of female officers were assigned to the protests compared to male officers; a police detective told reporters this was to ensure there were no misunderstandings between protestors and police.[37]

The media coverage of the Hyehwa Station Protest differed in perspectives. Many people in South Korea shorten the word feminist as "femi" (페미). In some cases, the definition of feminism in South Korea is often interpreted as radical feminism.[4][38]

Some South Korean news coverage mentioned the Hyehwa Station Protest's criticism of President Moon Jae-in, noting that some demonstrations involved caricatures of Jae-in.[4] Hankook Ilbo noted that the original intent of the protests strayed from calling for fair investigations and anti-sexism, to much more radical ideas that disillusioned some protestors, and opined that the tolerance of extreme ideas at the protests would likely deter the protestors from reaching their goals.[4]

Tension occurred between media and protestors due to the exclusion of men and male reporters from the protests. Activists specifically asked men to not attend the protests, regardless of their sympathies.[23] Male reporters were restricted from asking questions and were forced to wait behind police lines.[29][5] One reporter, Lee from Hankook Ilbo, stated that he was frustrated by the reverse sexism, but believed having men experience a level of discrimination and exclusion was an effective strategy to promote gender equality.

The BBC interviewed the public for their reactions to the protest. A middle aged woman said that, having a daughter and a son, she was unsure how to feel. A man who had been following the protests since the first day agreed with the protestors and believed the protests were necessary, but also advised they should be cautious with their strategy and actions. A teenager questioned the generally positive reporting of the protests by the media contrasting with the extreme positions taken by the protestors, and argued that continuing in that direction would "cause problems for society".[37] Not all perspectives questioned the protestors: a businesswoman interviewed by The Korea Herald agreed with the protestors and hoped the police would devise a proper plan for unbiased investigations going forward.[28]