#296: Two Sisters Dead After 12 K-Drama Directors’ Sexual Assault & Torture

26:39It was in November, so she was even like hugging the chicken close to her to keep it warm as she ran to the hospital. And she's telling her daughter like, eat, eat, eat while it's still hot. Moms always say this, but Mrs. Yang said, I know it's my kid. but she's so beautiful that day so so pretty but also so so sad it was like in the waiting room she said this dark cloud was just hanging directly over soda and it looked like it was following her around and she just wants to like break up the cloud on top of her but there's no way she can do that so soda is just poking around at her food and she says mom yes i think i was raped Mrs.

27:23Yang sat completely frozen while her oldest daughter, her national treasure number one, cried and told her the horrible things that 12 men had done to her. By the time Sora was done sharing her story, the chicken had gone cold and Mrs. Yang's heart shattered in a thousand different sharp jagged pieces that felt like they were ripping into her from the inside. she felt as a mother just pure unadulterated rage through mrs yang's patience and encouragement sora starts to trust the medical staff sora would tell them bits and pieces of everything that's happened she would call her mom sometimes sometimes in the middle of the night sora couldn't sleep and she would ask the nurse for a phone and she would call her mom and tell her everything in bits and pieces over the phone mrs yang quit her job to be there at any given time any given hour for her daughter.

28:19Whatever her baby needed, she was going to do it. Mrs. Yang constantly met up with the doctors in charge of Sora's care. They informed her that Sora had contracted chlamydia, which is a bacterial STD. Thankfully, it's treatable and curable. But the part that worried the doctors was Sora was at a stage where it was very painful for her because of the chlamydia. There was pus that was exiting and Sora did not register any of that pain nor any of that discomfort. It was like she was in a trance. She was out of her body. She could not feel the pain of her body. So while chlamydia was an issue that they're working on, it seemed like the more worrying problem on hand was she's showing just extreme symptoms of PTSD.

29:05Soda was assaulted, abused, humiliated, and potentially drugged for three months by 12 men. It wasn't at once. It wasn't a single event, but it was a consistent schedule of abuse. She did not speak out because they threatened to kill her, but more importantly to Sora, they threatened to do the same thing to Sora's little sister and then kill her. In Korea, I'm not sure the exact verbiage for these positions here in the US, but in Korea they have something called extra directors. So it's not saying like oh this is an extra director like another additional director but they're like casting directors but they don't work with casting the main crew.

29:48So they're not casting the main lead or the supporting roles but they more so focus on casting a bunch of extras. You know the scenes in the k-dramas where they're in a coffee shop they need people in the background or when they're walking down the street it can't be a ghost town but they also can't use the same people in all the shots because what is the population of this town, like five people, right? So they have to organize all of these different schedules, all of these different people to appear on set, be dressed in the same, like if the drama is set in winter, everyone's got to wear winter clothes.

30:16They got to know what positions to take, what kind of actions to do. And oftentimes these extra directors are also in charge of the minors on set. Not all the time, but I think legally minors have to report to someone who knows all the child labor laws and follows the specific regulations that the government has set. And for some reason, it often falls on these positions. So these extra directors, they will often have assistants, supporting directors underneath them, managers, as well as production managers that work below them. Just for simplicity's sake, we're going to call all of the positions casting directors.

30:50They all have immense superiority over Soda and the extras on set. They're like top of the food chain. They have the power to take away jobs and to create them. So moving forward, I'm just going to be using the word allegedly. It is in my personal deep opinion and feeling that these men are absolutely guilty. But since there has been no official conviction, I will be using the word allegedly because it seems like these, in my personal opinion, nasty scum of the earth pigs are very, very lawsuit happy. Yeah. The predators have been named in an article that I will also link in the show notes. The series of assaults is said to have been triggered by a casting director by the name of Lee Taek-soo Now, since he has since changed his name to Lee Young-guang I'm gonna call him Lee Young-guang So that we know his real name, right?

31:42He was working at the World Casting Net Company in 2004 He was Sora's director on set for one of these dramas And allegedly, he wanted to impress his boss by committing crimes And allegedly, he drugged Sora's coffee and gave Quote, gave Sora to his boss as a gift. I don't know what happened there. I don't know if the boss was like, what's wrong with this kid? I mean, apparently not because he wasn't fired. Or if the boss did something to Sora, I don't know. But this seems to have been some sort of starting point to everything. Because after work one day, it seems that the Lee guy, that director Lee would initiate a 회식 of sorts.

32:23And a 회식 is when all the managers and the support nets, they go out to eat and they primarily drink after work. This is off-the-clock hours. You do not get paid for these gatherings. And if you're not one of the managers, it's literal hell. You have to sit there and laugh at all their unfunny jokes while you pour their drinks as if you are not just as qualified, if not more qualified, to do their goddamn jobs better than they can. I feel it's probably the bane of existence for most working women. If you go and you do what is asked of you, it is humiliating. It is degrading. It is oftentimes dangerous.

32:57These managers will force female subordinates to drink without concern for their well-being or safety. I mean, just even the principle of it is like, why am I here pouring you a shot of soju and laughing at your stupid jokes and complimenting you when everyone in the office knows that you are a blubbering, power-tripping idiot that doesn't know how to do anything correctly? And if you don't pour these egotistical managers their drinks, you risk the chance of never getting promoted because now the managers will tell their superiors that you're, quote, difficult to work with and you don't have the drive or the team spirit.

33:31It's alleged that Soda was at one of these events when she became very, very drunk. Now, this is where I want to preface something. I think if anyone thinks even for a split second, well, why was she so drunk? I think that would be a very good moment of self-reflection and I would like to assist in that self-reflection. Firstly, if Soda or anyone that you were out with, like let's say someone you're out with, whether it's a work colleague or a friend, if they're that drunk, yeah, you could be like, maybe they shouldn't have gotten that drunk. But the human decency aspect is you just want to get that person home safely.

34:04That's it. That's the only thing you care about in that moment. You're not thinking, why are they so drunk? You're like, okay, let me make sure that you don't lay on your back so you don't choke on your own vomit. And let me make sure that no predator gets to you. That's going to be the main thing to think about. Secondly, there are allegations and suspicions that Sora was roofied during these team building meetings. Sora was said to have not been much of a drinker. And when she did drink, she knew her limits really, really well. I can kind of resonate with that because you think it would be the other way.

34:33Like, oh, if you don't drink, you shouldn't know your limits. But as someone who doesn't drink often, I'm like, okay, I know I'm okay with like one glass of wine. And then I'm like, everything after that is a hard limit, you know? And she was very, very mindful to never cross these boundaries. I don't even think that she would drink like a full glass of wine. Because it's alleged that after just one sip of beer, beer, people started witnessing Sora behaving very drunk. So this is not normal. But let's argue that she was never drugged. Still, one of the main problems at these so-called team building events is that managers will push and shove drinks down your throat with this passive aggressive hint that your job is on the line if you're not fun and letting loose with the team.

35:14So either way, I don't think that we should blame Sora at all. ultimately what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't matter how drunk Sora was or wasn't the night of August 10th 2004 Sora was drunk and at around 2am director Lee pulled her into a video room this is already so shady video rooms in Korea are places where you can rent these small tiny rooms that have like a love seat it's like a tiny little couch you watch DVDs and stuff it's a quiet private room and it's generally known as one of these places where teenagers go to rendezvous if you will, since most likely teenagers can't afford like hourly motels yet.

35:51Director Lee threw her on the chair and it was clear that she was unable to resist. He assaulted her. Just eight days later, he got Soda drunk again, dragged her to a motel room. Soda was clearly unable to resist and he assaulted her. Just five days later, he dragged her into another motel room, strangled her took off her clothes and this time Soda was conscious enough to resist and when I say resist I'm like this was all of it was essay okay Soda was conscious enough to resist and made it clear once more for the third time this is not consensual she resisted physically and he threatened her allegedly saying something along the lines of I will break this glass soju bottle cut up your face with it and then use it to assault you I will put out cigarettes all over your face unless you listen to me.

36:44He assaulted Sora once more, sometimes even punching her in the face, kicking her in the stomach, and slamming her up against the walls during the assaults. It's alleged that director Lee went to tell his buddies on set what he had done because, you know, what a thing to be proud of, right? And they all decided, we're not going to go to the cops with this. No, we're all going to commit the same crimes. Casting director Yang Tae-geom allegedly silently locked Sora in an unknown motel room near the set. He dragged her into the bath, sprayed water all over her mouth and private parts with the shower head, took off her clothes, laid her down, assaulted her.

37:22He said to her, if you don't listen, I'm going to throw you in my trunk and push you into the Han River. Side note, Sora was young enough that Yang Tigem actually went around telling his friends that she was his niece and that he was taking her under his wing in the industry. That's how old he was. It's alleged that he even forced her to go on a three-day staycation with him where he continued to assault and torture her for three days straight. Then it was claimed that they, quote, passed her on to casting director Kim Sun-mo. He was working as a manager for the executive department of World Casting Net Company.

37:59October 13th of 2004, it's said that Kim dragged a drunk and semi-conscious soda to a motel while telling her, if you don't follow me, I'm gonna kill you. He locked her in the room, pushed her down, and threatened to light her pubic hair on fire. Then he assaulted her, which he allegedly bragged about to casting director Kim Yo-won. That's his new name, by the way. He also changed his name. It used to be Kim Do-hyun. He was also married at the time of the assault, this new casting director. It said that he worked as a casting director and manager at the World Casting Net Company. In October 26, 2004, he got Sora drunk to the point of being barely conscious dragged her to a motel room.

38:37She had woken up and she tried to run away, but he smacked her in the face twice and screamed, how dare you? You're a rag bitch. A rag is a really nasty word to call someone. It's supposed to mean that they're used and slept with by everyone. He continues, should I break your leg for you to listen? If you don't act right for me, you won't survive. I will carve out your private parts. Behave like you did with the other directors. He assaulted Sora, allegedly. while forcing her to watch X-rated movies. Each time, the assaults lasted several hours, and it said that they would make threats to Sora the entire time, saying things like, I'm going to kill your mother, I will kill your sister, I will set fire to your house with everyone in it.

39:19Some of them even took videos and pictures of the assault and threatened to post them all over the internet. In a very sick detail, it stated that some even threatened to assault her younger sister while they were assaulting her. And not even just that, But the mental and emotional torture and humiliation continued on set. Now, from these actions, nine other useless pigs were inspired to harass Sora. So the casting directors are going around telling everyone on set what they've done to her. And they're laughing about it. And so nine other predators decide, okay, let me try the same thing. They would grab at her on set, grope her.

39:57They would grab her hand, place it on their private parts. They would spy on her while she would be changing in the dressing rooms for other scenes. One of them even had the audacity to grope her and said, You're fat. If you want to sleep with me, you should starve today and lose some weight. I don't even... Another one tried to humiliate her by calling her a mop and taunting her that he knows. He heard from everyone about her hair situation down there. Another one groped her and said, They are big, so the rumors are true. I like them. You should come live with me. It is the common belief that Sora descended into a psychological break and mental break from all of the torture that she endured in a very short amount of time.

40:38And she met with these people every single day because she was working like five different dramas. And when she wasn't being R-worded and dragged to motel rooms, she was being assaulted on set. Just in the open. Like even just researching makes me sick to my stomach. So I can't even, yeah. Sora tried everything that she could. And this is the heartbreaking part. And I can't help but feel like this intense amount of pure female rage. Because let me give you a brief timeline of events. Director Lee assaulted her August 10th, August 18th, August 23rd, September 5th, September 20th. On September 24th, Sora met with a therapist.

41:21October 6th, she was essayed by director Taegum. October 7th, essayed by director Kim. On October 8th, Sura met with another therapist. Then alternating between the predators Yang Tae -금, Kim Seon-mo, and Kim Yo-won, it's alleged that Sura was assaulted. October 11th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 24th, 26th, 27th, and then November 7th. On November 9th, she would meet with another therapist. November 18th, she was essayed once more. And on November 19th and 26th, she would meet with a therapist again. Her medical staff at the time said in a recent interview, I remember Miss Young as a special case patient who developed her disability due to excess stress in a short amount of time.

42:07Now, a lot of people also speculate that if Sora was drugged heavily during the span of the past three months, that could have intensely contributed to her psychological breakdown. Side effects of date rape drugs include memory impairment, impulsivity, anxiety, depression, stress, paranoia. And I'm not sure if she was drugged. We can't say that we have the exact evidence because you'll see why later. But I can see that to be because it's just so different from who Soda was for 30 years. And I'm just I don't even know the exact words to describe how Soda's mom felt. But she still held out hope that Soda would recover.

42:46It's not going to be easy. She knows that. But we're going to do it as a family. And the police are going to get us justice. Soda is going to sue the perpetrators, make them pay for what they've done. And closure is going to be the first step to healing. In Korea at the time, the laws have since changed. But in Korea at the time, let's say you're walking down a street and you witness someone getting essayed in broad daylight. You cannot, as an eyewitness, report it to the police. What? Only the person being essayed can report to the police. Like, what do you mean? Like, I can't call police? You can call them, but you can't file a report.

43:22You can't, like, push into motion a series of events where the perpetrator, the R-worder, gets arrested. The police will be like, were you the one that was S-A-ed? Okay, then all we can do is just kind of stand here. The victim has to be like, hey, I was S-A-ed. Yeah. Let me tell you the sick reasoning behind why. It's really bad. So back in the day, even if there were security cameras or eyewitnesses that caught the R word or committing the physical, mental, emotional, violent, sadistic act of rape, unless the victim themselves doesn't file the charges, law enforcement does nothing. And according to some brainless idiots back in the day, they said, no one can really know what happens between a man and a woman in private.

44:03That's why unless the victim said, Hey, I didn't want this, they won't do anything about it. Yeah. Also, the statute of limitations for SA was just over one year Like just 365 days What? So, Sora's mom helped Sora file a complaint December of 2004 Against 12 officials from the entertainment industry For sexual assault and forcible harassment Now, obviously, the entertainment company that they all worked for Was alerted of the situation The vice president, a man Fired the forecasting directors who was accused of sexual assault But he stated you know I talked to them three of the four accused of sexual assault admitted to having intercourse but they denied it was assault Mrs.

44:48Yang comforted Sora telling her it's okay the police are going to look into it and once they discover the truth then these men the 12 men they're going to pay for what they did and you don't have to feel scared anymore you don't have to feel paranoid you don't deserve this you have rights you are the one you did nothing wrong Mrs. Yang's only hope comes crashing down when the police call her asking her if she's got evidence that she wants to bring into the station. That sounds like they care right? They're building a case they want to gather the evidence then they want to get the perpetrators but then they sarcastically added what do you need like three four trucks for evidence?

45:26We can send you four trucks for you to fill up oh my god the investigating officer was obviously being sarcastic insinuating what kind of evidence do you have you're making a big deal out of nothing you think your case is so serious you think we want to put our resources to your daughter who just sleeps around mrs yang ignored it because i mean she's thinking maybe this this investigator is weird maybe this is how he talks i don't know right maybe he's being genuine maybe he's a rookie And he's like, no, genuinely, I don't know how many trucks evidence needs. Right. So still thinking that law enforcement is going to be on her side because I don't know, that's their freaking job that they get paid to do.

46:06She brings in boxes of material, boxes of evidence. And the detective slams his hand down on the desk, startling Sora's mom. And he screams, do you think this is even a case? Because of how harshly the investigator slammed on his desk and started screaming at Mrs. Yang, everyone in the police station stared and turned and just looked. Nobody stepped in to help. Nobody stepped in to be like, hey, cop, like get in the back. What's wrong with you? That's not how we do our jobs. No one. The other cops were just like, oh, OK. In hindsight, Mrs. Yang would say this was the moment I should have dropped the investigation.

46:43Had I done that, both of my daughters would still be alive. The police discarded most of the evidence that was turned in by Mrs. yang they just threw it away and understandably she did not know how shady they were so she didn't make copies of a lot of the evidence yeah the police investigated is that legal yeah i guess i mean it's probably one of those things where it's not legal but like what are you going to do call the cops on them right and if the government like the state officials don't want to do anything then the police did investigate though they investigated for over a year and like heavy quotes on the word investigated if you can really even call it that the first thing that they did was bring in the victim and one of the accused perpetrators stick them in the same room without a proper partition it was just one of those like plastic see-through sheets that you see at cash registers when covid was really bad that was what was between them they were sitting at the same desk Soda was forced to sit close to a perpetrator so close she could hear his breathing.

47:48And the detective was getting agitated that he had to actually do his job. He had to actually work and investigate because now he's frustrated. The victim is stating this happened and the perpetrator, of course, is denying it. Of course. And he says, here's a ruler. Here's some crayons. Draw his private parts. We want it in exact millimeters. And he says, we want the exact shade or we're not going to believe you. I don't think I have to voice everything wrong with this, but it's just ridiculous. Even if they are being serious, which I personally think that they're a thousand percent trying to humiliate and ridicule and traumatize Sora further.

48:23But even if they're being serious, it's just dumb. I don't know what else to say. It's cruel and dumb. Even professional artists have references. I mean, as someone who's been with the same partner and Mrs. Yang brings this up, like married couples, they can't even do this at gunpoint. Like you would utterly fail. I would utterly fail. I don't know. Like, millimeters exact. Like, what are you saying? And this is the most traumatic moment of your life. You're trying everything to block it out. Your brain is trying to protect you. And this is what the officer is telling you to do? Like, yeah, that would drive anyone crazy.

48:57In another interview, if you can even call it that, investigators told Sora she's 재수 없다. So this is interpreted in two ways. If we were walking down the street and a bird pooped on your shoulder, I might look at you and say 죄송합니다 which means like just like really bad luck like you got no good luck like you have such bad luck it's a little aggressive honestly I don't even think I would say that it's kind of a little weird but let's say we're walking down the street nothing happens to you and I look at you and I say 죄송합니다 it's commonly interpreted in Korean as you're so f***ing full of s*** so he was probably arguing I was saying no she just has bad luck but it's clear he was trying to say like you're full of s*** after she gave her testimony of being assaulted by 12 men.

49:45I'm going to give you a quick list of the things that the police did during the investigation. I'm sure there's a lot more than what I've just compiled, but even this is really, really bad. In order to drop a complaint, you have to sign an official document that states that you understand that you're dropping charges against the perpetrators or the so-called perpetrators. You have to add a fingerprint on the document, so you got to stick your thumb in ink. It's got to be like notarized, right? Right. One of the detectives smeared ink on Sora's finger and tried to get her to close the case forcibly.

50:14Imagine the trauma of being a woman, a victim who has who has been taken advantage of physically. And now someone is trying to do the same thing, not in the exact same sense, but they're trying to have power over your body again. Like the trauma of that during another cross-examination with another perpetrator where for some reason Sora was present. They basically forced her to be at every single cross-examination in front of her perpetrators with no barriers in between them. And it was all spaced out. So they investigated for 13 months. And I think once a month, they would call her in. So every month, if she made any progress at all to get some closure and healing, she would be right back at the police station face to face with one of her other perpetrators.

50:58She's not even just talking to the police about what happened to her. Once a month, she's meeting with her attackers face to face. and think about it. SA is incredibly destructive mentally. The victim feels like they are in a position where they did not have power over their own bodies. And in that interrogation room, Sora did not, she was not able to face her attackers with dignity. She was not able to face it because you hear stories of victims finally going to trial. And it's a moment that they can reclaim that power because they're in a position where, no, you don't have control over me. You can never do this to me or anyone.

51:33She doesn't have that. Even the police aren't on her side. So think about how helpless, vulnerable she feels over and over again for over a year. A lot of experts said that this type of trauma would have probably left her feeling like she had been essayed all over again once a month for a year after her traumatic three months by the same perpetrators. During one of the cross-examinations, the detective asked the perpetrator to describe the sexual acts that they engaged in. because all the perpetrators admitted to what they did, but they tried to argue that it was consensual and she wanted it. The perpetrator described every single bit of the assault in great detail right in front of Sora and even made explicit noises to go along with it.

52:22Not once did the police stop him. By the end of that cross-examination, Sora was crying and screaming. Her mom stopped it, took Sora home, where for days she sat in a trance-like state, refusing to eat anything, just laying there staring at a wall. Even just by looking at her psychiatric treatment progress notes, Sora was clearly breaking even more from the police investigation. Side note, again, Mrs. Yang blames herself for that, but I disagree. I think this is the police's fault, clearly, right? I mean, in the treatment progress notes, the medical staff wrote that Sora was reporting feeling heightened anxiety and nightmares after looking at the faces of her attackers again.

53:03She said when she hears their voices, all she can think about is when they locked her in those rooms and did what they did to her. I mean, clearly, clearly things are not going well. After yet another traumatic incident at the police station, Sora runs out, breaks free from her ROM, and runs directly onto oncoming traffic right in front of the station. All Mrs. Yang could hear was her heart thumping in her ears and all the car tires screeching and cars honking. And thankfully, they were all able to stop in time. Sora survived. But it's just crazy. I think it's a global problem. Women and children are not being protected by law enforcement.

53:44SA crimes are not. It feels like the vast majority of law enforcement just do not care. In 1998 in South Korea, a crazy verdict was given on an SA case. a minor was r-worded by another minor and the verdict of that trial okay 1998 i know it sounds like a long time ago but just think about this the statement the judge gave was the two parents of the two minors should let them get married what they were like basically they were insinuating that the victim's body was wasted since she was violently attacked by a criminal so she should just marry the criminal and live the rest of her life in utter fear and trauma.

54:24What? Yeah. Because if you're not a virgin before you get married, it's going to be rough for you, was the sentiment. Court is dismissed. And just side tangent, okay? There is such a strong stigma around SA. I mean, if I told you a man had been physically assaulted, mentally and emotionally tortured, and the perpetrator had inflicted biological terrorism on his body, we would not ask that man, were you drunk, sir? Sir, what were you wearing? Your basketball shorts were a little short, sir. Are you sure you didn't want to be terrorized like that, sir? But that's what SA is. It's assault. And it should even be categorized as bioterrorism.

55:05She cut chlamydia from her assaulters because you can spread diseases into the population non-consensually and with force. That's literally biological terrorism.

55:20After witnessing how her daughter was treated by the police for being the victim of violent sexual crimes, Mrs. Yang asks us this question. Is this really a country where you can raise a daughter? The number 18 in Korean can also sound like a curse word. 18 is 18, right? Which I'm not going to say the curse word in Korean. It's a little aggressive, but just imagine 18, but instead of the Ps, you have a soft B. And it can mean, fuck you. In English, it seems a little more casual. In Korean, it's a lot more passionate. It's a little more aggressive, right? It's amplified. Now, the number 28 is said to also kind of sound like the word fucking in Korean.

56:05Sora jumped from the 18th floor of their apartment building on August 28th at 8.18pm. All the numbers lined up were 8-18-28-8-18. Soda chose that date specifically as a way to say, F*** you to the world. F*** you to what the monsters did. And f*** you to the police that poured salt on her wounds and created new ones. And to the justice system that didn't even help her. And to every single person that shamed her for being a victim of a crime. She said to them, F*** you. Mrs. Yang had to be tough for Sojung She just lost her daughter, yes But her youngest daughter just lost her older sister Sojung was now 30 When Sora passed And she just lived with this immense guilt She cried to her mom that it was all her fault She was the one that suggested The two go-be extras on drama sets She said if she hadn't done that They would have never dipped their toes into the industry And she would still be here She would be smiling, alive, happy, healthy And her mom told her never think like that.

57:11Instead, let's focus all of our attention on the good moments we had before everything happened. So on the sixth night without Sora, Mrs. Yang and Sojung, they laid in bed together. They had a picture frame of Sora in between them and they would alternate between crying and laughing. Sometimes they would start laughing and end up crying and they were just reminiscing of all the little things that Sora would do. All of the ridiculous fights that they had gotten into that seemed like such a big deal at the time. They were borrowing each other's clothes. That's my pencil case. Mrs. Yang dozed off for a bit.

57:47And when she opened her eyes, Sojang was still wide awake. She didn't sleep at all that night. And she said, Mom, did Eun-ni shower the day that she died? What do you mean, did she shower? I don't know. I don't know what I'm thinking. Let's just all meet in 20 years, right? What does that mean? I guess if 20 years is too early, we can all be rejoined in like 30 years. So Jung got up and went to take a shower. She was in there for a very long time. That day, she would jump from the 13th floor of a building in Seoul. Her note to her mother read, Mom, I'm sorry, but I have to follow my sister. I just miss her so much.

58:36Mrs. Yang remembers that day with bitterness, not just because I'm sure it was one of the most traumatic, painful days that any single human could experience, but because she feels like she should have known something was going to happen. She says that she should have done something to try and stop it. She said, why didn't I think that my younger daughter would die too? Why didn't I save her life? About the shower comment, it felt like Sojung wanted to retrace her older sister's steps the day of. And I know the comments and questions feel strange in hindsight and it's like, oh, didn't the mom notice that she was asking all these weird questions?

59:10But it's been six days since Hora passed. I don't think Sojung was displaying an abnormal amount of grief during that time. Imagine you just lose a family member. Your loved one is expressing grief and you're like, well, I don't know. You might try to do something. So let's stick you in a psych ward. Like you wouldn't do that. That could be a new breaking point for that person. Mrs. Yang was just trying to be there for her kids. So on September 3rd, 2009, less than a week after Sora died, Sojung passed away and Mrs. Yang's life was in pieces. And the back-to-back deaths of their two daughters deteriorated Mr.

59:46Yang's health. So apparently during Sora's fight for justice, Mr. Yang kind of faded in the background. He resorted to drinking a lot to try and forget his pain. He had a brain hemorrhage. He had been bedridden. He could not get back up. The stress and the toll of the drinking and all of that, he didn't recover well from his hemorrhage. Studies have shown that psychological pain has such a profound effect on healing that even hospitals don't even really know how to adequately address it. On November 2009, just two months after his youngest daughter's death, Mr. Yang would pass away too. And for a while, it felt like Mrs.

1:00:26Yang had no one, not even relatives. While Mrs. Yang wanted to put her life on the line and talk about the injustice that her family went through, her relatives were mad at her. Some of her own like closest siblings, they were saying, why are you making our family look bad? You're filling our family with problems. They're gone. There's nothing we can do to bring them back. for a while Mrs. Yang kept quiet and she harbored all this anger and pain by herself she lost 81 pounds it was just so quiet when it was time to eat and the air just felt so suffocatingly heavy and she was just alone in that house she went to all these doctors got prescription pills they were so strong that she ended up just sitting there drooling and crying at the wall.

1:01:13She felt like a shell of a human. She would stare at the wall or the TV all day, feeling numb. So imagine like a year of this, a year of being in a house where every nook and cranny is a remnant, a memory of your family that's all gone. She's heavily medicated. She can't even eat. She's losing all her family members and boom, the end credits to a new drama are rolling and it's one of Sora's perpetrators names listed as a director. Because of these men, her daughters had become a handful of ashes. But here they are living their lives as if nothing has happened. Some of them even had children of their own.

1:01:52Children. Mrs. Yang felt like she was going crazy. She even changed her name. Not because she didn't want them to find her or anything, but it's an old superstition that your name can carry good or bad luck. And she said, maybe my daughters died because my name is unclean. She said she would have given up anything for her daughters, her name, her life, anything. And that is why Mrs. Yang started her one-person protest. She would demonstrate with a huge sign showing the names of 12 perpetrators who harassed and assaulted her daughter. Every demonstration, a cop would come up to her and say, I'm a cop.

1:02:25I got a report that someone is defaming on the streets. The police are really worried about all the wrong things. Yeah, defamation is a serious issue. But first of all, I don't think that this is defamation. And second of all, if you were to tell me, is defamation worse than SA? It's really clear. During another demonstration, allegedly one of the family members of the perpetrators came up to Mrs. Yang and tried to slap her in the face with his palm. It's like the brother of a perpetrator while swearing at her. One of the perpetrators even stated, I will make her a beggar by suing her for defamation.

1:02:59The next time she's on the street, she's going to be asking for money and food. She did get into a physical altercation with one of the perpetrators. There is a YouTube video on it on her channel and she ends up fracturing her wrist because he shoved her during a protest. One of the wives of the pigs called Mrs. Yang and threatened to sue her for defamation. And when Mrs. Yang tried to explain to her the situation and how terrifying of a person that her husband was, the wife responded, I don't care what he did as a bachelor before we got married. Even the police officer that worked on the case and did, in my opinion, one of the worst jobs I've ever seen, if you can even call it a job, he also stated that he would sue Mrs.

1:03:36Yang for defamation. and this part is crazy but Mrs. Yang went to see one of the detectives thinking okay maybe after five years he'll apologize after 10 years he'll apologize maybe he'll find some salvation somewhere and come to his senses she showed him portraits of her two daughters and he insisted he doesn't recall a single thing doesn't remember them and he started filming her threatening to sue her for defamation in Korean there's an expression he who farts in the room and gets angry at everyone else for the smell Mrs. Yang felt really depressed again I mean this is the evil angry scum that her daughter had to deal with in the span of six months Mrs.

1:04:25Yang had lost her whole family she lost her oldest daughter her youngest daughter then her husband and she said that she felt like she was always gasping for air and struggling to get a deep breath in. Imagine being in a constant state where you feel like you're half drowning all the time. The only reason that Mrs. Yang stayed for so long instead of joining her family was because of one of Sojung's dogs. They still had a dog. Sojung had brought home this tiny little puppy a while ago, and they named him Peepee, right? Which I feel like could mean a lot. I feel like he was a little rascal when they first got him because the name sounds very rambunctious, like a little troublemaker.

1:05:05And she said he was the last one in the family. She said she felt a duty to make sure that at least one family member lived a long life under her care. She brushed his teeth every single day. She looked online for best meals to feed dogs. The dog ate better than her. She would mix milk into his dog food to make it easier for him. She brushed his hair every single day. she absolutely treasured him. He lived for 19 long years before passing away. And that is when Mrs. Yang decided, it's time for me to join my family. And she attempted to end things, but she survived. And she said in that moment, all she remembered was Sojung telling her the day before when they were laying in bed together before she passed.

1:05:58Her youngest daughter told her, Mom, get your revenge. I think if anyone can do it, you can. You're strong. And so now that is what she's doing. She's going to get justice. And she feels like that's the only thing she can and will do as a mother, no matter how hard it is, no matter how lonely it is without her family. And it's been really hard, okay? Mrs. Yang waged a lawsuit against the perpetrators. April of 2014. Now, there is a part of this that I couldn't bring up earlier because I wanted to be wary of people thinking this was some sort of argument against Sora, but during the three months of Sora's torture, Sora purchased a ton of, quote, gifts for one of the directors.

1:06:42Nike shoes, hats, tech gear, clothes, cameras, sunglasses, watch, even gifted one of the directors like$1 ,000 in cash. Now, this is a detail that I'm sure the perpetrators would love to spin and be like, oh, she had a crush on me. But it was very clear that Sora was threatened. She could not say no to these people. They threatened to cut up her face, light her family home on fire, kill her own family, and assault her younger sister. So yeah, I don't think she personally bought these items because she very much enjoyed the company of these scumbags. One of the directors was even threatening her, trying to get her to give him the deed to their family home.

1:07:21These were all alleged in the lawsuit, but Sora's mom's case would be dismissed because the statute of limitations had already passed. Now, remember how some of the perpetrators wanted to sue Mrs. Yang for defamation? Well, they did. They tried to sue her for over$100 ,000, stating that Mrs. Yang had ruined their reputations and made them lose out on work due to her one-person protests that she would do in front of their agencies. yeah they would also allege that mrs yang was doing this all for money also mrs yang is in her 70s and she's a very beautiful person and they tried to argue that she's trying to make money off her daughter's death and get plastic surgery which i feel like tells us all we need to know about these pigs imagine your children pass because of essay and they're like no you're not doing this for justice you're doing it because you want to look pretty these are like caricatures of evil, disgusting villains.

1:08:19Like, also they tried to argue that it was consensual and that they were just so, so attractive and Sora even offered to pay for the motel fees herself. Thankfully, the judge dismissed through their lawsuits in the trash can where it belongs and stated, I cannot help but feel deeply frustrated and sad at the disastrous failure of public power. As a person in charge of public power, I expressed my deep apology and sincere consolation to the mother. The judge read out a two-page paper about the failure of justice and deemed Mrs. Yang not guilty in defaming the perpetrators. But still, the principal that they even filed defamation charges, she felt like the perpetrators were trying to kill her daughters twice.

1:09:05But Mrs. Yang's revenge had just begun. She wanted to reveal the inside story of the death of her two daughters to the world I mean, she feels like she needs to. This is what her youngest daughter told her to do before she passed. She's doing this for her kids. She started a petition for the Blue House, which is like the White House of South Korea. As of March 2018, more than 200 ,000 people have signed the national petition to the Blue House demanding a reinvestigation into this case. Now, back in the day, if you got 200 ,000 signatures in one month, the Blue House would at least have to address that petition.

1:09:42that has since changed because of the new president. He like doesn't even want to look at it. No way. Yeah, it's really bad. So she had 200 ,000 signatures. This was the 23rd Blue House petition that was formally addressed by the Blue House of South Korea. They said that they were going to reinvestigate. But in 2018, when the police began reinvestigating, the frustrating thing was because of how poorly the case was handled in the first place, in the first time when it actually happened, like right after, there wasn't a ton of evidence left over. Like I said, the police basically trashed everything.

1:10:17They ruined all shots at a proper investigation, then and in the future. The police commissioner even stated that because of the statute of limitations had passed and the complaint was withdrawn while Sora was alive, they said basically it looks like a reinvestigation won't be possible. Or at least they won't produce any results, really. Mrs. Yang said, I never dreamed that there would be 200 ,000 people. I thought it'd be incredible if we got 100 ,000 people to sign. I just want to thank everyone. I'm a small citizen with no power, and I want to thank everyone just for knowing. Thank you. Thank you so much.

1:10:54I'm glad I'm alive. There is no way to repay even a little of what we wanted from our children. But 200 ,000 people now know, and I will keep going until 50 million people in Korea know everything for as long as I live. The state offered to pay for her daughter's funerals. So August 28th, 2018, she held a joint funeral. Mrs. Yang said, fuck you to the state for not doing anything. August 28th, 2018. She held a funeral, yeah. And of course, I can't conclude this episode without talking about the dark reality of the film industry. Mrs. Yang met with the ministers of state to try and get the men fired from their positions in the industry as casting directors.

1:11:47And one of them, the minister, sympathized with her but stated, the system in our country and the police is that we focus on evidence. He apologized when Mrs. Yang started crying. she was devastated and she said three people are dead isn't that evidence enough a lot of people echoed this sentiment moms came forward and said you know when our daughters said they wanted to get into the industry i would tell them don't stay for too long though that means something eventually happens to you it's just a matter of time an anonymous assistant performer said that working in the industry for the past 10 years, sexual harassment occurs frequently on sets and everyone but the stars, like the lead and the supporting roles, everybody else, they have to hold their breaths on set and hope that it doesn't happen to them.

1:12:37A Youngjin committee survey revealed that only one out of 27 cases were dealt with legally. About half the cases were just swept under the rug so the victims wouldn't have to lose their livelihoods. Four people sexually assaulted Sora. Nine people harassed and assaulted her. Three people physically assaulted Mrs. Yang when she tried to get justice for her daughter. They hit and shoved her down. Twelve serial predators and three violent criminals. And the tragedy is that as of right now, not a single person that played a role in this horrific case has been punished. Many of them are still working in the industry.

1:13:16As of 2020, one of the perpetrators worked on the drama. dating is annoying but I hate being lonely. Mrs. Yang rallied everyone to protest and boycott and NBC, one of the biggest networks in Korea, reportedly terminated their contract with the perpetrator stating that they were unaware of this incident. So they fired him. Then May of 2023, the drama lovers came out. Lovers. Another perpetrator had worked on set. NBC banned them from accessing any future production sites and stated since they were hired by a third party that they were unaware at the time of the incident, they stated that they will actually terminate the whole contract with that third party company in question to exclude any possible participation of a perpetrator moving forward.

1:14:01Also, this is really scary, but apparently one of the casting directors, Lee Young-wang, is working in the administration department of a huge gynecology office in South Korea. meanwhile from all the lawsuits that mrs yang faced from the perpetrators even though they were dismissed she had to sell her apartment to pay her legal fees so please click the link in the description for mrs yang's youtube channel to get updates i am hoping to meet her if i go to korea soon so i can give you guys updates there as well and mrs yang stated that she's going to continue to follow the perpetrators for the rest of their lives and continue to expose them.

1:14:44If the courts cannot punish these men, their crimes will be known to the public. That is her goal. She is in her seventies now, and she works out every single day to stay very fit and healthy so that not only can she protest every single week, but you know, a lot of these perpetrators, They're a lot younger than her. And she said her goal is to outlive at least one of them so that she can dance on his grave. She said, this is a country that does nothing for its daughters. The police even put my two daughters at risk. There is nothing we can do but talk like this. And there is something that I really want to tell women like my daughter.

1:15:25You should live and not die. You must never die. You must live. even though 14 years have passed since her daughters have left, whenever Mrs. Yang is walking on the street and hears a girl scream, she still turns around. And that is the story of the Yang sisters in South Korea. Please leave your supportive comments for Mrs. Yang in the comments. We're going to translate them, a bunch of them for her. and I know that she would love to see your support and hopefully we can meet with her and protest with her when we're in Korea next but let's just keep this story out there please, please go to her YouTube channel even if you don't understand Korean I don't think you need to to understand the pain that she's gone through to watch these videos to engage with her content please and let me know your thoughts and please stay safe and I will see you guys on Wednesday for the main episode Bye.