SBS 'Kkokkomu' highlighted the brutal reality of child abuse in everyday life through the case of 9-year-old Jisoo, who died after being confined and beaten.
On the 4th, the episode 202 of 'Tails of Tales' (directed by Lee Keun-byeol, Lee Dong-won, Kim Byung-gil, hereafter Kkokkomu) aired under the title 'Everyone killed her – Teacher Park and the puppet mother', with music director Kim Moon-jung and actors Kim So-eun and Han Ji-hyun participating as listeners to trace how a distorted psychological control structure led to the tragic child abuse.
The case began in 2016 when a police call came to Lim Nam-sook, who was caring for Jimin and her mother at a jjimjilbang in Cheonan. The police said Jimin had an older sister, Jisoo, who at 9 had not attended school for two years, and Jimin also had no attendance records. During the investigation, Jisoo's mother Su-jin changed her statements several times, citing issues with her husband and family circumstances. The police eventually made an emergency arrest, and it emerged that Su-jin had been living in an APT. in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province with acquaintance Eun-ha's family and Teacher Park. Contrary to the initial claim that Jisoo disappeared from a playground, evidence of long-term confinement and beatings was revealed. Ultimately, Jisoo's body was found buried in a forested hill in Gyeonggi Province, and the discovery that she had been killed by abuse from her biological mother provoked outrage.
Nine-year-old Jisoo was repeatedly beaten while tied to a chair with tape and was confined on the balcony for more than 20 days. Her biological mother Su-jin claimed this was "discipline" and said "I should have punished her more severely," which provoked everyone's anger. Kim So-eun exclaimed in shock, "Isn't this crazy?"
The case was later overturned by testimony from Eun-ha's son, then 6-year-old Min-chan. He testified that not only the two families but also 11 members of Teacher Park's family lived in the APT., and that he, Jisoo and Jimin were kept confined on the balcony at all times. He said the person who tied someone to a chair, left them alone for long periods and ordered the beatings was not the biological mother but Teacher Park. Teacher Park emotionally dominated Su-jin and Eun-ha using investment and loans as a lure and directed the beatings. It was revealed that at times the beatings reached as many as 100 blows a day. He resembled a cult leader.
On the day Jisoo died, Teacher Park claimed to have received a divine revelation and ordered the beating, saying, "This child will kill us all." Jisoo ultimately died of hypovolemic shock caused by malnutrition and repeated beatings. Kim So-eun sobbed, saying, "It's so pitiful," noting that she could have been saved if she had been taken to a hospital. Seeing Teacher Park's devotion toward his own children, Kim Moon-jung said, "He's a psychopath. That word is even too generous," in shock.
In court, Teacher Park denied the charges to the end, but Min-chan's sensory-based memories and testimony from Min-chan's grandmother demonstrated that Teacher Park led the abuse. It was also revealed that he even negotiated by demanding 1 billion won in front of Jisoo's body. Kim So-eun said, "It's horrific to have lived with people like that," and Han Ji-hyun exclaimed, "They are not human." The court sentenced Teacher Park to 20 years in prison and Su-jin to 15 years in prison.
Experts compassionately analyzed that Jisoo likely saw herself as a bad child under a distorted belief that a mother would not hit without reason. Listeners cried at the explanation that from age 5 she had lived with Teacher Park, seen her mother struggle and blamed herself, and Kim Moon-jung said, "It's so heartbreaking."
The three MCs said, "There is a saying that the child welfare law was nourished on children's blood, meaning the legal system developed through the sacrifices of children," adding, "I hope adults now take steps ahead of children's tragedies." Kim Moon-jung wiped tears and said, "I hope something like this never happens again."
Immediately after the broadcast, various online communities and social media were flooded with heated reactions such as "It's so sad and tragic I can't even speak," "I cried a bucket of tears," "Parents should trust their children; if they trust others and abuse happens, they are unfit to be parents," "Is Teacher Park a devil wearing a mask?," "I've never seen anyone get this sad talking about Jang Hyun-sung," and "It's beyond anger; it's sheer devastation."
Meanwhile, Kkokkomu is a program in which three storytellers study on their own and convey what they felt to their respective "story friends" one-on-one in the most ordinary spaces; it airs every Thursday at 10:20 p.m. on SBS.
[Photo] SBS
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