The Crucible of Sexual Violence: Militarized Masculinities and the Abjection of Life in Post-Crisis, Neoliberal South Korea

Abstract

south KorEa in thE fall of 2011 was riven by accusations of sexual violence and unfathomable brutality committed against the country’s most vulnerable subjects. The first shockwave came when the movie version of Gong Ji-young’s 2009 best-selling novel The Crucible was released on September 22, 2011. Based on a true story surrounding the Inhwa School for Deaf and Handicapped Children, the novel-turned-movie portrays widespread sexual molestation and physical abuse perpetrated against children with disabilities. The movie created an unprecedented public outcry against the brutality perpetrated against these most defenseless subjects (young students with various degrees of disability) by those who were entrusted with their care (able-bodied adult teachers and administrators). The movie sold three million tickets within the first ten days of its release and was viewed by more than 7.5 million moviegoers by the end of the year. Within a week of the release, the police declared that it would reopen and investigate the cases of sexual violence committed at the Inhwa School. In less than a month, Parliament introduced new legislation, known as the “Crucible Bill,” which would impose tougher sentences on sexual predators of children with disabilities. The public, having been thus sensitized to the topic of sexual violence against vulnerable victims, responded strongly to a second shockwave (or to be more precise, a second set of shockwaves). Just a few days after The Crucible was released, a male US Army soldier stationed in