HT to Korea Beat. And here’s the original story in Korean.
As we pointed out here before, there seems to be a pattern of arresting South Asian men for photographing what is apparently perfectly legal for Koreans to do. This is the second summer I have heard of South Asian men being arrested for photographing women on the beach.
When the Chosun Ilbo continuously photographs white women in bikinis, it’s ok and even worth printing, which should actually make legal matters worse according to Korea legal principles, than the brown men in question, who are considered criminals for doing far less.
Utterly ridiculous.
Here we have it again. Hypocrisy at its best: when Koreans do it, it’s a ‘cultural difference’, when foreigners do it, it’s a CRIME. Furthermore, the pictures taken by the Indonesians were taken for private purposes. When the Chosun Bimbo takes pictures of bikini girls, however, it shamelessly splashes them on the pages of a national newspaper (of course, without requesting permission)! Long live double standards!
James wrote:
Here we have it again. Hypocrisy at its best: when Koreans do it, it’s a ‘cultural difference’, when foreigners do it, it’s a CRIME.
From one of the links provided:
That article goes on to say that two Koreans and two foreigners were arrested.
As for the Chosun Ilbo, they’re a bunch of pervs, but are they pervs breaking the law? I would like someone like Brendon Carr to correct me or not on this, but I thought that for the press, the inclusion of an identifiable person had to be newsworthy or permitted by the person themselves, or had to be unidentifiable.
While it certainly looks pervy, the girls changing their skirts are not identifiable. The Caucasian girls facing away from the camera are not identifiable (if you can identify a woman by looking at her crotch, she’s got more problems than just the Chosun Ilbo). For the girls playing in the fountain, do you know that the Chosun Ilbo did not get their permission?
Another question to ask, though, is that even if the Chosun Ilbo got their permission, can underage people actually give consent?
At least three of the girls on the second picture (see below) taken and published by the Chosun Bimbo are identifiable. And do you really think the Chosun Bimbo went up to the bikini girls later and said: “Hey, we’ve just secretly taken pictures of you, do you mind us splashing them on the newspaper tomorrow?” Of course not!
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/07/um-so-i-guess-dont-go-sunbathing.html
Which three girls?
What about these then?
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/07/tap-that-ass.html
I can’t count the number of times my uni has used my image in it’s advertising. I’ve also found my face on a sign for a wine bar. Nobody asked for my permission, nor did I receive any compensation for the use of my likeness. Fortunately, I was not wearing a bikini in any of the photos.
If Koreans feel it is appropriate to not only take, but also exploit, photos of foreigners (without permission or payment), why is it suddenly illegal for the reverse?
I agree, those two girls are clearly identifiable. In fact, they’re identifiable because they are participants in a sporting event, which is considered both newsworthy and to carry the expectation of being photographed as a participant in the event.
That photo being printed may demonstrate that the Chosun Ilbo is pervy (and perhaps, by extension, that Brian is pervy for reprinting it), but it doesn’t go to the question of whether the Chosun Ilbo has broken the law.
That was the question.
Kevin, as an employee of your university, your image in its materials may be fair use. I’m not sure about that, but it’s possible.
If a wine bar’s using your image, that sounds like it’s something they probably stole from your university. I’d go to them and threaten a lawsuit. They might give you free alcohol to shut you up.
@ Kushibo
Obviously you didn’t scroll down to the end of the page where there are lost of girls identifiable who were not part of a sporting event.
You’re right, I didn’t.
Do you know that the Chosun Ilbo and the Pusan Ilbo did not receive permission to photograph them? I’m asking, not saying.
I’ve been in a situation where I had to obtain permission to video or photograph foreign residents or visitors, and while about one third declined, the others approved, even in situations where most Koreans would have declined.
I could see this going either way: the Western women at the beach might not want the attention, or on the other hand, they might just have said okay, since they’re less likely to have the squeamish modesty that a lot of Korean possess.
Do you know that the papers did not get permission? More to the point, and the reason I asked the question in several forums: what are the rules/laws for news media? If the Chosun Ilbo and Pusan Ilbo did not receive express permission, were they breaking the law? Do news media have leeway that private individuals do not?
[...] women also. See Brian’s post (yes, again – a productive week for him it seems!) and Korean Media Watch for [...]
I live in Busan and my friends and I have been on the front page of the Korea Times after we were photographed from afar while hanging on Haeundae.
It was a mixed group of girls and guys and it happened a few months ago. I can absolutely tell you that no one came up to our group and asked to photograph us or asked our permission to use said photograph(s) on the front page of the paper. Of course, one instance doesn’t prove much of anything but I thought I’d throw it out there.
Occasionally, camera crews will come up and try to interview some of the people I’m at the beach with. I almost always ask them to leave us alone but they usually don’t have much of a problem finding someone else to film. I’ve yet to have any photographers ask permission.
I’m aware that we’re in a public place and it’s a media outlet so it’s probably not illegal for them to photograph us. As well, I’m aware that I/we shouldn’t have any expectations of privacy while we hang out on the beach. But, dammit, is it ever annoying to be constantly photographed by random people with their giant lenses while we are just trying to enjoy our afternoons at the beach.
I was at Haeundae beach last month and I saw exactly the sort of behavior for which these guys were arrested.
I was sitting between the parasols and the water with my friend when we saw a South Asian man walking around in his underwear with his little winky hanging out. Despite the fact that he was wearing loose boxer shorts at the beach, I thought this was an innocent mistake so I pointed it out to him.
I kept seeing the same man walking up and down the beach and in the water for the next hour. I started wondering what he was up to so I watched him for a little while. He looked for groups of young Korean girls (aged around 14-20) and stood next to them, while his friend took pictures from about 10 yards away. They were trying to make it look like he was just posing randomly but from watching him, it was very obvious that they were taking pictures of the girls behind or next to him.
I saw him do this with a few groups of girls. I’ll point out again that these girls were quite young, mostly under 18. I had had enough so I told him and his friend that I could see what they were up to and to get off the beach. They didn’t protest or anything (I’m a big guy) but it was clear that they knew what I was talking about.
Anyway, when I first heard about men being arrested for taking pictures last year, I thought it was extreme. However, having seen an example of what they were arrested for, I can see why it happened. Those guys were proper perverts and it should be made clear that that behavior is unacceptable. As for the hypocrisy of Korean media not being punished for taking unauthorized pictures, that’s another story.