#327: Korea’s Most Dangerous Child Predator JUST Released From Prison, Decided To Move Into VICTIM’S Neighborhood

29:31He doesn't know how to keep a job. He has zero work ethic. He's not a great, happy, welcoming person. He used his wife to pay bills. I mean, with that, how do you try to do a character witness for anyone without perjuring yourself? All you could really do is go up on the stand and say, Your Honor, he existed. Like, that is the most neutral statement that you could make without lying.

30:03But I really don't think that anyone needed the psychopath test to understand that he was a complete psychopath. Even just the way that Cho would look at Nayoung's parents during the trial, it was dripping with hatred. And he also tried to gaslight an eight-year-old. He tries to gaslight eight-year-old Nayoung during the trial. It is absolutely vile. So Na Young stated countless times to authorities. The attacker was around 40 years old, had thin black hair, a round face, tan skin, tan and thick hands, and a very heavy physique. His voice sounded really heavy and he did not wear glasses. A bit about this.

30:41Cho is 57, but he dyed his hair black just to look younger than his actual age. Na Young mistook him to be in his 40s, which, you know, even without the dyed hair is completely understandable. Like I have never met a kid that accurately guesses the age of an adult. Most kids I've met claim their parents are 102 years old. But because Nayoung said he looked 40 and had black hair, what does he do during the trial? He shows up looking as old as he can. He stops dyeing his hair, letting all of his white hairs grow out. He's trying his best to cast doubt on Nayoung's story and memory. Nayoung stated the attacker did not wear glasses.

31:16Guess who shows up to court wearing those thick, nearsighted glasses that are typically just used for reading? he loses a bit of weight before the trial Nayoung described her attacker as a heavy physiqued man. The attorney would even point at Cho and he's like look at my client. Nayoung's testimony is inconsistent with Cho's appearance but that's also like super dumb you know it's like you really think just by doing that we're gonna buy your story? Let me change my white shirt to black shirt. Now we don't know who you are. It's very it's insulting even though she clearly identified him in a police lineup as well.

31:50Like, it's crazy. And they were playing very dirty. But fine, you can try all you want, changing your whole look, having your wife vouch for you. But nothing changes the facts. Everyone knows what he did. He left a trail of evidence at the crime scene. He thought leaving the water would keep him safe by erasing all the evidence, but it didn't. The police found several fingerprints in the restroom, all leading to Cho. Side note, in South Korea, when you get your ID card, they take a whole palm print. It's not like the U.S. where not everybody is in the system. Every single person in South Korea, even without a criminal record, is in the system.

32:23And the palm print is interesting. So even if you touch something with just the inside of your palm and not your fingers, they can still track it to you. The police ran the prints and it led to a man named Cho Dusun. They found CCTV footage from buildings near the church. The man in the footage matched the man in the system. When police went to his house, they found bloody socks and sneakers. The blood type on Cho's clothing was a match for Nayoung's. so yeah you can try and not dye your hair but the evidence is the evidence but psychosis is defined as a severe mental condition in which thought and emotions are so affected that contact is lost with reality Cho claimed he was in a state of psychosis when he assaulted Niall okay actually that was his last version of events Cho changed his story so many times throughout the trial the very very first time that he was questioned by police.

33:16He said that he came home after a smoke that morning. He started running the hot water for his wife so that when she got home after working the night shift, she could take a nice long hot shower. His alibi was, I was home. I wasn't at a church. I was home being a good husband. But his wife told the authorities that she came home after a night shift. Her husband was not home yet. She hopped in the shower when she got out. He was home, had went to the room to change, plopped onto the bed without saying a single word to her and fell asleep. The police caught him in his first lie. So Cho changed his story.

33:49He said, actually, what's interesting is I don't remember a single thing from that morning. So he went from remembering turning on the hot water for his wife and now he doesn't remember anything. He even brought a 300 page handwritten testimony to court just denying everything. He He wrote, your honor, people with psychosis often say that it's their own taste, but it's not my taste in dealing with a child in an adult way. An eight-year-old girl in my mind is just a baby girl and hopefully a sprout, a seed in our country that is yet to bloom. It is absolutely unforgivable for someone to commit violence knowing a child is that young.

34:29How can I tell you the truth that this was not me. Your honor, I will get surgery to remove my genitals, to prove to you that it wasn't me. You may be framing me when someone else did this to her. I sincerely hope that you believe in the truth, your honor. He's doing the whole, if I'm lying, you can cut off my arm. Well, no, I can't cut off your arm, even though I think you're lying, because I would go to jail for that. It's like a very bizarre trump card to play in a very serious matter. He's insisting that this is not him. He would never do such a thing. He knows his character and he would hate people that does stuff like this.

35:06That was his new story. But eventually that stops making sense. So then he goes with, okay, fine. You know what? I do remember things. I do. You know, the morning I went to the church building to use the restroom, the bathroom door burst open and a man rushes out. I saw little eight-year-old Nayang on the floor. She's trying to stand up. I'm trying to help her. She just keeps plopping down again. And you know, I got scared, you know, because I thought if I report this, I will be blamed for this. So I ran off. In his newest story, he is the victim in all of this. There was another man who did all of this and terrified both Nayeon and him.

35:43And now he's being framed for this man's crimes. This man kept changing his story based on how he felt the judge was perceiving his excuses. And if information came up to refute his previous statement, he would just come up with a new one. And I don't know how anyone could view him as a credible human being. Meanwhile, Nayoung's testimony, on the other hand, never changed. No matter how many times prosecutors and police officers forced her to repeat it, asked her questions, tried to test her credibility, she was absolutely sure of every single detail, even details like how Cho's breath smelled.

36:20She said it was a very strong, overpowering cigarette scent. It was foul. And they asked what other scents were there. Not too much alcohol smell, mainly cigarette. Cho's ears perked up. So did his attorneys. I think everyone in that courtroom knew what was about to happen. And that was gut-wrenching. Nayoung, an eight-year-old girl, had done her absolute best to tell the truth. She had been taught since she was a little baby, I mean, she's still a baby, that lying is bad. So she did everything to tell the truth on every little detail that was asked of her in a very traumatic situation six times.

37:00But she didn't know that the truth would be used against her and that the justice system was rigged against her. Cho now had a new story, one that he would stick by, okay? He did do everything. He committed the crime. He did that to Nayang, but he can't be held responsible for it because he was in a state of psychosis. How and why was he in a state of psychosis? Because he was drunk. He argued that being drunk puts you in a state of temporary psychosis. That when you are drunk, you are unable to make decisions due to your compromised mental and physical state. You are unable to control yourself.

37:32You are in a state of psychosis. Okay, if this sounds absolutely unhinged to you, it is. But it works. According to Korean Criminal Code, Article 55, Paragraph 1, people with weak abilities due to mental and physical disabilities are subject to a mitigated sentence and in korea being drunk in the eyes of the law counts as a mental disability which means according to the law cho's sentence could be reduced purely based on the fact that he was drunk the difference would mean if he committed this act while he was sober he could get life imprisonment if he committed the act while drunk his sentence could be as little as seven years.

38:11In what world does being drunk excuse anything or make things less serious? Which, you know, like this logic is so infuriating. When an assaulter is drunk, he is unable to make decisions due to his compromised mental state. When a victim is drunk, it's you probably consented and now you regret it. Next time, don't drink so much because this is your fault. So if this drunk law applies to anybody, I don't think it should apply to anyone. But if it does, it should apply to victims. Unable to make decisions due to compromised mental state. Okay, so if victims are drunk, they are not able to make decisions, meaning they cannot give consent.

38:50Automatically, if they are drunk, it is SA then. That should be the law then. I don't think I have to tell you all the reasons why this defense being allowed is so horrendous. But let's just do a quick run through. First, being drunk is no excuse. Second, the fact that they are using Nayang's own testimony of saying that she smelled a little bit of alcohol in his breath as proof that he was drunk and should get seven years in prison for his crime, that alone, using her testimony, should be a crime in and of itself. And third, there is no proof that he was drunk that day. There is more proof that he wasn't drunk at all.

39:27For example, the location of the crime was a pretty quiet alleyway with not a lot of passerbys during that time frame. People were commuting to work and school, So, I mean, for them to not pass through this alleyway, it's a very specific alleyway. Most alleyways have some action. They have some traffic going on. It seems like he knew that. It seems like Cho conveniently chose this location. Everything about this location indicated that this was not a spur-of-the-moment crime. It indicated more of a man that was stalking, waiting for the perfect victim. Another supporting fact, most bathrooms in Korea, like major cities, are locked.

40:00You have to either be a customer of that establishment, or a worker has to unlock the bathroom or they have a keypad. So a lot of churches, they actually have keypads that most of the churchgoers know the password to. This bathroom didn't even have a keypad. Again, that doesn't seem like something that's based off pure chance and luck. The chances are in Ansan, more bathrooms are locked than unlocked. So you just happen to be in the perfect alleyway where there's no passerbys during commuting hours and no witnesses, and then immediately found the closest private one-unit restroom without even stalls that was unlocked.

40:37It seemed like he knew that the church workers were not going to be in the church at the time. Then after the crime, he didn't pass out in the bathroom. He didn't pass out in the hallway. He doesn't stumble drunkenly away from the crime. He ducks his head and he quickly makes his way back home. And he attempts to remove all the evidence from the unconscious victim by pouring ice cold water all over her. That is a lot of planning to do if you're blackout drunk. Even sober, every step of this crime would take strong decision making. Later, an inmate that shared the same cell with Cho would say that he didn't think that Cho was an alcoholic.

41:12Usually you can spot an alcoholic in prison from a mile away. It's really easy because there's no alcohol in prison. They start having withdrawal. Their hands start shaking uncontrollably. They start sweating. They can't fall asleep. They start vomiting. They've got these crazy migraines. Most of them become hypersensitive to light. The inmate said Cho is fine. He was reading the Bible. He looked pretty comfortable. But the problem is Cho does not have to provide evidence to the court that he was drunk the day of the crime. He just needs to prove to the court that he's quote, just that type of guy, the type of person to get blackout drunk at 830 a.m.

41:49Even if he wasn't drunk on that day, as long as he can prove that he's the type, he will get a way lesser sentence. To give you context on how horrendous this little loophole in the law is, in December 2007, just a year prior to Nayoung's attack, two girls in Gangnam were drunk at a club. They get lured to a hotel by two men. These men essay the girls, then call their friends over, hand over the hotel key, and at least another five men come in and SA the woman. All the men who planned and coordinated this group attack and SA, they all stated that they were drunk. They received massively reduced sentences because they weren't in their right minds.

42:29They had booked this hotel room in advance. So maybe the plan wasn't to target these two girls specifically, but they had plans to target somebody. But because they were drunk, everything was forgiven. In a lot of cases, the judge will even ask criminals that are on the stand, did you drink? The defendant will excitedly bob their useless heads up and down and sign a petition that says, I drank, I drank. Then the judge will give them a reduced sentence and on to the next case. It's almost like a custom. In Korea, 32.4 % of criminals who commit SA claim alcohol was their reasoning for their actions, not moral depravity, just alcohol.

43:09It's gotten to the point where in Korea, there is a saying, the judges feed the defendant's alcohol. There is a movie based off of this case called Wish. So in Korea, it's called Wish. In America, it's called Hope. And it is probably one of the most emotionally gut-wrenching movies out there. It's about a poor family in South Korea with an eight-year-old girl named Wish, So-won. And one day on So-won's way to school, it's raining. This man comes up to her and asks, can I borrow your umbrella? She tries to avoid him, but he ends up dragging her to a construction site where she has brutally beaten an essay to the point of death.

43:47The premise is very well known. Seo Won used to be super close with her dad before this, but afterwards, she's so scared of any adult men. He tries to comfort her when she's in the hospital and she has a panic attack. She almost sees the attacker in her father. So Seo Won's dad has to stay out of her eyesight. He can't even see his own daughter because that's the best way for her to heal and it's ripping him apart all he can do is buy one of those giant kokomong character costumes like the one that you would see at disneyland and he would cheer her up while he's sweating in that costume pretending to be kokomong and inside he would just be crying because he can't be her dad he can only be this character that's the only thing that she will see and it's heartbreaking literally on all fronts to see how So-won has to recover in the movie, how her dad has to navigate trying to help his daughter heal while also simultaneously being rejected by her.

44:45And it's just a gut punch. In the end, So-won realizes that it's her dad in the costume. Kokomon leaned down and she takes off the head of the costume. And it's just her father completely drenched in sweat because there's no ventilation in those costumes, teary-eyed, and she realizes everything that her dad did for her. But there's also a scene in that movie where the judge sentences someone's S.A.R. to only 12 years in prison. And all hell breaks loose in the courtroom in the movie. Someone's mom is screaming at the judge, 12 years? 12 years. Do you know how old my daughter will be in 12 years?

45:26And a lot of viewers, they hated that scene in the movie. I mean, they wanted the predator get life in prison. This is a movie, right? You can write it however you want. give him the death sentence. Why are we all going home feeling unjust and crying, right? But at least it's just a movie. But art imitates life because Cho was sentenced to just 12 years in prison. It wasn't just in the movie. Nayoung's father cried out, if this man cannot distinguish from right or wrong and cannot make decisions, that is the definition of a dead person. Someone who does not know what is going on around them. How can you say that he is a dead person?

46:09He decided to approach Nayoung. He dragged her into the church bathroom and then assaulted her. How can someone who is apparently not in their right senses make all of these decisions? Nayoung's father cried that he had to be the one to tell his daughter. His eight-year-old daughter that Cho, the very bad guy that broke the law, the country decided to just give him 12 years. Nayong responded to her dad, too little. Her dad asked her, how long do you think the sentence should have been? 50 years, or better yet, they should stop giving him food. The judge can't make the wrong decision like this.

46:47Later, she asked her dad, is this a joke? From a justice standpoint, it is a sick joke. Not only did the brutality and heinous nature of the crime warrant a very harsh punishment, Cho Dusun was not a first-time offender. Cho Dusun had a history of 17 criminal offenses. This was his 18th offense. Cho's 17 prior criminal offenses were not even small, minor infractions at that. He was arrested, tried, and convicted prior to all of this of sexual assault and murder. We're going to get to all of these in a minute. If any single person in that courtroom should have gotten the book thrown at them, it should have been Cho Du Soon.

47:32Judge Lee, who presided over this case, Nayoung's case, faced a lot of backlash over his decision. His response was to play the victim. I mean, I guess birds of a feather flock together, right? The judge is playing the victim? The judge said, judges are just public servants. As a public official, I am reflecting on the fact that I have not met the public sentiment. and because of that, not just me, but my whole family is suffering a lot from this case. What the fuck? Judge Lee felt like it wasn't his fault that the law was written the way it was written and that as a judge, he has to follow the law.

48:07He said it's not appropriate for the judge to talk about the verdicts. If mental and physical weakness is recognized at the investigation stage, there is no way for the judge to change that. The judge claims that he believes his hands are clean and free from guilt because as a judge, he's just following the laws. It's the prosecutor's fault for not applying for an appeal. The public was clearly not happy with his response either because the judge could have just thrown his defense out the window and said, yeah, I don't care if you were drunk. It was really up to the discretion of the judge. So this whole like, I'm following the letter of the law, that's not what the letter of the law says.

48:43It says you can get a minimum of seven years, but you can still get life imprisonment, even if you're drunk. So I think like it sounded like this drinking was a thing in Korea for so long That people just be applying that to all these heinous crimes And this is just another one of those like oh you're drunk? Okay fine that's it Yeah I think they're just so accustomed to that law Which is crazy That they don't even care about what the crime is anymore They're saying it's like a custom like it's a formula You're drunk? Okay here's a random sentence that means nothing and that's been changed now right like it's changed or barely barely really not really there are some amendments to laws but no i'm gonna hit you with some recent cases soon yeah and a lot of netizens argued if you want to argue the letter of the law as some excuse for your choice to sentence cho to 12 years then let's argue the letter of the law why is cho being charged with essay this was clearly attempted murder inflicting such visually fatal injuries on a child in the harsh winter and leaving cold water running over her unconscious body, you cannot try and argue in any way that you had no idea that this could kill the child.

49:58This is a case of attempted murder. How could the judge not see that? And with his criminal record of 17 prior major offenses, how could the judge give him 12 years? What? He's just going to spend 12 years in prison, get out a new man? It is very hard for sex offenders to reform. A Korean news network, NBC, went to interview offenders like Cho. They've committed heinous crimes against children, and now they're free. Did they reform? Did they feel genuine remorse? Maybe if the public could understand them, they could understand what Cho was going to be like when he got out. Side note, when I say these offenders are free, I'm talking they're free.

50:38I genuinely mean it. In the United States, about 44 states have a variation of a law called Jessica's Law. The law in most states restricts child essayers from living near schools, parks, or anywhere where children can gather together. In Korea, they tried to pass a similar law, but it seems very unlikely to pass because Korea is such a densely populated country. That's not me defending why it can't be passed, trust me. Like, I have better hills to die on than the comfort and rights of child predators. But a researcher at the Korean Institute of Criminology stated, such a law is unrealistic to apply in korea especially in seoul and its surrounding regions considering that schools tutoring schools haugons kindergartens child related facilities they're virtually everywhere they argue plus what if the law is abused by some people who would be willing to open a child related facility to make their neighborhood an off-limit zone to ex-convicts again not the hill that i'm trying to die on technically released predators in south korea can purchase rent an apartment right next to an elementary school with windows facing directly into the playground if they so wish and they do there is an essay or that lives right next to a kindergarten this is not chojusun but similar crimes mbc followed him he stayed home all day and only came out when the playground outside filled up kids had gotten out of school they were playing he would get up on one of the swings and just swing around while staring at the children.

52:08Do people not know that's him? No. His previous victims were between 7 to 11 years old. None of the kids there, none of the adults knew that there was a predator, a pedophile on the playground. NBC tried to talk to him and he was angry. He lashed out, are you here to let the world know about me or something? I'm already intimidated as it is. Are you trying to tell everyone in the neighborhood? I mean, you know full well how pitiful my life is, how people like us live no freaking way he said people like us it gets worse he finally sat down and this was an anonymous interview so we don't know what his face looks like and he opened up to the producers he has to wear an electronic monitoring device an ankle bracelet and he complained about it he said even when i put clothing underneath it it really hurts like to have this heavy thing pressed up on the skin it's gonna start to sag when i move around the hard thing it chafes my skin and it pokes me.

53:04So it gets red and I get blisters and it just really hurts. It's just kind of useless too. Like I may be wearing this, but what I realized is it doesn't really have a real effect. I just lower my pants and I hide it and you can mess with it and touch it without anyone knowing. The producers were like, whoa, let's bring it back to the crime and the victims. Like we're here to figure out if this guy is remorseful. And they said, those kids, you scarred those kids for life. And what do you want me to do about it? Oh, I scarred them for life. I should feel pain too. Like you want me to live like that too?

53:36It doesn't matter to me whether they're hurt or dead. The important thing is I'm not going to suffer more because of them anymore. It's not like they're kind of some grand, beautiful woman or Jesus Christ or anything like that. They're just some ugly kids but because of them i'm suffering it's totally useless wow this is unreal did you intentionally try to avoid places with children or minors of course i intentionally avoid all places with minors i try to avoid those places on purpose because involuntarily even without noticing i start having those thoughts again if i'm around so i avoid them on purpose he was not telling the truth they saw him at the playground that day and the very next day they were watching him he went straight to the playground all he does is stare at the children which is more than enough like put the man back in jail please but that's right now the judge ruled that he is high risk of re-offending and they're not doing anything about it imagine you finding out your kids is sitting at the playground there's someone just standing there and people say what can we do right Yeah, there's really nothing you can do.

54:47If I find out that's a sex offender and I try to warn all the other moms in the neighborhood by texting that address, I can get sentenced to prison for five years. For? Effectively doxing a predator. Today? Today. NBC went and found addresses to high-risk offenders against children. Most of them, shockingly or not, live near playgrounds or kindergartens. Currently, statistics show that out of all the children predators released from prison in Seoul, 88.5 % of them live within a half mile radius of a school. You can't tell me that's just a coincidence. An innocent coincidence? Statistics also show when offenders wearing anklets commit crimes again, they re-offend.

55:29It happens within a 0.5 mile radius from their house. NBC found another one of those offenders to see if maybe he had reformed. He felt remorse for what he did. He had assaulted an 11 year old when he was like 70 something years old What? He is now 80 and he was actually very happy to talk to NBC His face was blurred, but he wanted to share his story He said, you know about her, right? Are you talking about the victim? Yeah, the victim I have a lot to say about her You know, instead of calling me grandpa She called me ajushi, mister Back when I was 72 She called me ajushi instead of grandpa So I thought that was a little strange And I think I lost my mind because of it She was begging me to do stuff to her.

56:09I guess she just had a very, you know, yearning for adult activities. She told you to touch her. The child did. Yes, she would come up to me unbuttoning her clothes. A child in elementary school did that? Yeah, so I did what she wanted me to do. He claims he was the victimized one. I didn't take her for that kind of person, but I think she totally planned everything. I told the police she's a gold digger, a baby gold digger. Did the child, the 11-year-old, ask you for money? She didn't ask me for money, but I gave her pocket money, like$2 a day. Anyway, I guess she lives around here. Because if I go near a subway station, the anklet starts alerting the police and they call me.

56:57They call me to keep away from the subway station. When I think about it even now, I really would just want to kill her. so you harbor some resentment towards the child resentment did you not hear me i said i want to kill her i want to kill her this is unbelievable another tried to argue that the child he essayed was basically a young woman at this point she was like nine so there wasn't anything unjust about it he also added if you keep oppressing us there are only two things we can do either die or go back to prison. Okay, die. Sorry. One profiler who works with offenders, including Cho said, the thing with these criminals, the one thing that they have in common is they think the cause of their problem lies with the victim.

57:43So even if they're released from prison, they blame the victim for causing the problem and they feel wronged. They think to themselves, I wasn't that bad, but they made me out to be this heinous criminal. And they maintain this very distorted perception of life. A lot of these other offenders have been dubbed in media as Cho's, even though that's not clearly their names, because labeling someone as Cho Dusun, even though that's not his name, tells you all you need to know about this person and what they did. Professor of psychology Lee Soo Jung said, there are many child offenders like Cho Dusun in our country before this case, and it seems like there will be many more after.

58:21There are not many, actually very few countries that would allow a child sex offender to return to his place of residence so freely without any special precautions. And it seems very unlikely for someone like Cho to reform. His whole life, 70 years, all he's known is himself and violence. That's all he cares about. Cho had to drop out of sixth grade because he was a raging bully. He never went back to school. That's the extent of his education. At 18, Cho committed his first known crime. He stole a bike. He was caught, but it appears that he really likes theft. He kept stealing. He was very active at one point, lived with multiple women.

59:01And like no judgment on this part if it's not Cho. But I just don't think that everything would have been consensual and everyone was of age, right? I doubt it. Cho was convicted of assaulting one of his roommates. He served a small light prison sentence for it. He was then later arrested of essaying a 19-year-old when he was 31. He was only sentenced to three years in prison for that. When he got out, he married his current wife, known by the media as Miss O, and they had a son. But the son ended up passing away when he was only three months old. And they had a pet Maltese. But he allegedly killed that pet Maltese for peeing on the carpet.

59:37It's alleged that Cho threw the Maltese on the ground multiple times and then gouged out its eyes with sticks. He would later allegedly say that he did it because he loved his wife so much. That dog was not peeing on the pee-pee pads, and therefore, that dog was bad for his wife, so he had to kill the dog. Out of love. For his wife. Side note, his wife is 15 years younger than him, and a producer that interviewed people involved in this case stated, it's unclear if Cho's wife is a victim, or an enabler, or both, so it's very difficult to understand her and her actions, but she has done some really unsavory things with this whole situation.

1:00:16She was visited by an NBC producer before Cho's release, and she screamed through the door, Leave! Get out! The producer asked, But did you divorce your husband? I didn't divorce him. If he doesn't drink, he's fine at home. The victim lives nearby. I don't know, okay? And I don't care about anything like that. I don't know anything about it. I don't want to know. I'm not interested. She is still with him to this day. Now, I digress. Then, just 13 years before Nayang's attack, Cho was arrested for murder. Almost 13 years on the dot. December 21st, 1995. The attack on Nayang was December 11th, 2008.

1:00:54Cho was 43 years old when he killed someone. He was out drinking with his friends when this 60-year-old man, who was not friends with Cho, is not part of the friend group, made this passing comment at the bar about a past president that he supported. Cho went into this violent, erratic, hysterical temper tantrum. And out of nowhere, he just starts pummeling this old man and would not stop until there was blood and brain matter everywhere. The old man's face was completely disfigured and he was dead. Cho was only sentenced to five years in prison. Because he's drunk? Yeah.

1:02:01And I can't make this up. We're going to change it for you too. But I guess even at that time, the new law, it still was not much. The five-year sentence was too long according to the Korean justice system. If you can call it a justice system at that point, because that sentence was then reduced to two years in prison. Cho was released after two years in prison because he was drunk when he killed that man. The same excuse he would use 13 years later. Part of Na Young's therapy was writing in her journal and drawing. It was just a good way for her to process her emotions. Nayoung's dad said, Nayoung changed a lot since the attack, you know?

1:02:40She's still passionate, still energetic. You know, that's something that Cho could never take away from her. But that carefree attitude that every child should have the right to have, that every adult on this planet should honestly work collectively to protect, that was gone. And it was very hard for Nayoung's parents and Nayoung's older sister. They wanted to do everything to help, but sometimes they don't know how to help. Nayang's dad said, my child writes in a diary every day and I read it secretly sometimes because I just want to know her thoughts. But no matter what happens, she blames herself first.

1:03:16One day I scolded her and I felt really sorry about it. So I looked at her diary and I thought that she was going to write like a normal child. My dad scolded me, so I'm mad. But instead she wrote, even if I were my dad, I would have scolded myself too. Clearly I deserved it. And Nayang's dad's heart just broke into two. I mean, for one, she's so quick to think that things are her fault. And two, she's growing up way too quickly. Kids her age are supposed to be angry when their parents yell at them. They're supposed to not be understanding and not supposed to be seeing everybody's point of view.

1:03:52They're supposed to be children. Nayang's dad said, until last year, she was a normal elementary school student but now it seems like she has the mentality of a college student and every two weeks nae-young's dad feels like he has to cut open his own chest and rip out his heart because every two weeks they have to travel to seoul she has her counseling treatments but also they have to go see a specialized doctor who was working on creating her an artificial anus now side note he was doing this free of charge the doctor had heard about the case on the radio and offered up his services. The artificial rectum would hopefully mean that she would not need the colostomy bag anymore.

1:04:30I mean, even that is not easy. The operation should typically only take four hours for most people, but Nayang would need to have multiple surgeries and the first one lasted over 10 hours. When the doctors opened her up, they realized that her organs were basically tangled. There was a ton of inflammation and scarring inside of her little body. One side of her pelvis had hardened like stone. It was a lot. And even when they were successful at implanting the artificial rectum, she would still need copious amounts of therapy to try and get her own tissues to have that regular bowel movement again.

1:05:05And until then, she would still need her colostomy back. And the family, they don't have a lot of money, especially after taking off time to take care of Nayoung. They're barely making ends meet. They don't own a car. So every two weeks, Nayoung's dad has to watch Nayoung wake up and walk up and down the subway stairs, clutching her giant colostomy bag that hits her knees. And she never complains. She's healing so slowly, but there's healing. Last time Nayoung's family shared one of her drawings with the public, it was of Cho in the cell eating a bowl of cockroaches and a hammer on his head. Now she's drawing Spongebob with sunglasses.

1:05:46And Spongebob is smiling and another one is like a pretty princess with long flowy hair and they asked her why the glasses and Nayang said oh I thought if I put glasses on he would look cooler so I tried spongebob with glasses and the princess that's me and Nayang would smile and the scar on her cheek would go up but even going as hor to get counseling and medical treatment it's a huge stress on Nayang not just the physical act of getting on the subway and making this very strenuous trek but for a lot of reasons. Nobody in school except some of her closest teachers and friends knew that she is Nayeon.

1:06:22From what I can tell, everyone has been incredibly diligent about keeping her identity private because that's what she wishes. But it also poses some difficulty. Nayeon needs to leave school early and show up for these random medical treatments. And because everyone in the area knows that a girl around her age is Nayeon around this area, sometimes it makes them question, is she na-young? she wrote in a journal today I had to go home early so I couldn't stay till the end of 6 period I just went home I think my friends will think that I'm weird what am I going to tell them on Monday? that's what I worry about the most I wish I didn't have to be sick I regret it a lot the only people that should have regrets are the people trusted to carry out justice because clearly they did not but not everyone in this case is evil all the schools in Ansan they came together to hold assemblies, telling the students to stop talking about who Nayoung might be.

1:07:17Parents were instructed to double down. They would bring home their children and they say, we don't know who Nayoung is, okay? But how sad would it be if she's your classmate and she heard you talking about who she may or may not be? Nayoung's closest friends, they knew what happened to her and they all quietly protected her. These are eight-year-olds. They did a better job than the justice system at protecting Nayoung Nayoung would miss class once Another classmate asked her Why do you skip school so often? Nayoung didn't know what to say So she started hesitating One of her friends stood up That's why you need to eat all your side dishes and vegetables This one's a picky eater She always gets stomach aches and needs to go to the hospital One of her other friends chimed in Yeah, you need to eat more Nayoung would forever be grateful Because she just felt so protected by them but they can't protect her from certain things.

1:08:11Nayoung's family could only get adult-sized colostomy bags from the hospital. It would reach down to her knees and it was clearish so you could see the level of fecal matter in there. You could also see when fecal matter was coming out of her stoma and Nayoung would come home early from school sometimes because it would fall out or it would fall off or sometimes it would overflow onto the ground and fecal matter would spill everywhere and Nayoung would have to come home early from school. Thankfully, a medical company reached out and promised to send her colostomy bags for as long as she would need, whatever size she would need, child-sized colostomy bags.

1:08:45But she still had to wash it out. She still had to throw out her own fecal matter. And it's hard. Sometimes it leaks. It's a mess. It's not pleasant because the minute that you unplug it, it leaks down onto your body. So her dad made her this contraption. It's this makeshift funnel, almost like a makeshift sink that flows into the toilet bowl. She can unhook her colostomy bag from her stoma, have it flow into this makeshift funnel, and it funnels into the toilet. It matches her height. She has to use it five times a day to empty her bag, clean it, and exchange it for a new bag. And we don't know if Nayoung said thank you to her dad, but it's pretty clear that it meant a lot to her.

1:09:21She wrote in her diary, Today I had one of those snack packages with the toys inside. It was my first time assembling a toy like that. I completed it in one try. I did it really well. I constructed it pretty good. I'm just like my dad, so I'm good at making and fixing things. And I am thankful I was born. But there are things that Nayeon can't do anymore, and her dad can't create an invention to solve it. In May, Korea has something called Children's Day. It's this huge celebration in Korea where parents show appreciation to their children. Relatives come over, give the family kids money and gifts.

1:09:58I mean, kids probably love Children's Day more than Christmas. It's a big deal. Na Young just had a simple wish. Go to the amusement park for Children's Day. When she told her dad that, his heart sank. He could have saved up for a toy. He could have learned how to cook a new dish. But in amusement park, Na Young's colostomy bag had to be emptied frequently. It made it nearly impossible for her to be outside for long periods of time unless she's at a hospital. But Na Young's dad didn't want to say that, so he tried to cheer her up by ordering her favorite pizza and she would sit there on the ground staring at her pizza and they have a really small house and they don't have space for a dining table so they have one of those foldable tables that you fold out and put on the ground and you sit on the ground and eat and when you're done you fold it back up and put it away she wouldn't even make eye contact with her dad she wouldn't even touch the pizza he poured her a cup of orange juice here drink this this is the one that you like.

1:10:54I don't want it. Her dad got up and went to the fridge. Okay, well, how about some yogurt? Why don't you pick one of these to try? She refused to drink any of the ones that he tried to give her. He said, I feel like I'm living with my in-laws right now. Come on, Nayoung, do you want to go see a movie? Nayoung wouldn't even snort. She wouldn't even look at him. Nayoung's dad was so stressed. I mean, it's hard enough to get Nayoung to eat as it is. She doesn't absorb nutrients well and she has to eat three times more than the other kids to grow at the same rate. She was over four feet tall and only weighed 55 pounds.

1:11:30It took him a long time to get a juice in one hand and a slice of pizza in her other hand. And he pulled out a yellow gift box and her face lit up. What is that? Someone who knew her and knew what she had been through knew that she liked The Simpsons and they sent her a toy set for Children's Day. Naeung was so happy she spent all day assembling her Simpsons toys on the window in her room and later Naeung would actually grow out of Children's Day she got hit with what her dad calls junior high school student sickness all of Korea calls it that it's another word for puberty when kids don't want to be around their parents anymore Naeung's dad said when I come home she doesn't say anything no matter how much I ask about her day it's always yes or no yes or no he said in the past she followed me around daddy daddy daddy but these days she really likes her friends.

1:12:21This stage is really sad for a lot of parents but I wonder if there's a twinge of happiness for Nayoung's dad because Nayoung is now experiencing such a normal stage in childhood just like all of her friends, the teenage puberty, too cool for her parents phase.

1:12:46but there is a voice that is lingering in the back of his mind psychiatrists have all warned naeong's parents that puberty can bring back a lot of trauma her emotional wounds were healing but they could burst open again because when we hit puberty we learn a deeper understanding of and we will recall feelings and experiences from the past that we tried very hard to suppress. It's a hard time because victims who are essayed as a child, they could feel a bit of healing, they could make progress, but this could be a huge setback because they're starting to understand what fully happened to them. But Nayoung's dad is hopeful.

1:13:21He believes that she's healing slowly, bit by bit, with the help of all the wonderful people in her life. The doctors, even the ones that are not involved in her care anymore, they will jump out of bed and run to Nayoung if she needs anything. One police officer who Nayoung called police officer Eun-ni, she meets with Nayoung frequently to take care of her. Former counselors, attorneys, the CEO of the movie company that produced the movie So Won that was loosely based off of Nayoung's story, they're all part of Nayoung's life. And because of that, Nayoung does not complain. She wants to grow up and become a doctor.

1:13:57she said that she just wants to help people and this feels like this is where the story should end right a child who against all odds against the scum of the earth that tried to kill her goes on this journey of healing and becomes someone that the world is proud of and inspired by that's the end that should be the end so why is this episode not over because the real Chodusun was set to be released December 13th of 2020. And it was announced that he would be moving back to Ansan, the city of the crime and the city where Nayoung still lives, the city that she calls home. It is said that his apartment would be half a mile from her family home.

1:14:42A five-minute walk. The phrases Chodosan fear started trending in South Korea. People started circulating messages on social media titled, How to stab Cho where it hurts if you run into him. And nothing, nothing is helping ease the public. Psychological experts who worked with Cho diagnosed him as having intermittent explosive disorder, which has been defined as an impulse control disorder, characterized by sudden unwanted anger. People with IED can essentially explode into a rage despite lack of apparent provocation or reasoning. There are a lot of people who have this disorder and they work with managing their emotions, trying to identify trigger points.

1:15:23And they can lead very loving, nonviolent lives regardless of their diagnosis. But clearly Cho was not one of them. So this is adding to the anxiety that the general public feel that this man is about to be free. Experts even stated that to make matters worse, it is clear that Cho does not believe there are real consequences to his actions. Imprisonment, the threat of future imprisonment, that's not going to stop him from re-offending. The same profiler who worked with Cho said, someone like Cho, he gets a lot of satisfaction from his actions, not just the act itself, but we believe that he gets satisfaction from watching his victim and the victim's families collapse.

1:16:04The damage done to the victim's life, that is an addiction and a satisfaction for someone like him. Cho was given a test that measured his likelihood of re-offending his same offense. And they measure things like family environment, criminal history, employment. It scored through 30. Anything above 13 is considered a very high risk of re-offending. Cho scored 17. And yet, he's going to be released? Stories from prison started circulating around this time. So before his release, there was more buzz about Cho. And everyone wanted to know, has he changed? Is he safe to be back out in public? Like, are we just releasing an unhinged monster out into the streets?

1:16:44Spoiler, yes, we are. Stories from prison started coming out. Fellow cellmates started being interviewed, which honestly really did not help ease the general public about Cho being released. Apparently, Cho felt no remorse in prison, or at least he never showed his inmates. Instead, he was on this high horse all the time about how he thought that child offenders were disgusting, vile people that deserve to die. What? Yeah. But to him, he was not one of those people because he was blackout drunk and doesn't remember the crime. He also stated to an inmate that he's a scapegoat and there is no real evidence he's not the one that did this.

1:17:22Yeah. Cho also complained a lot about his circumstances and being in prison. He said, I feel like a bird that wants to fly but is caught in a cage. I yearn for freedom and I count the days until that's possible. Inmates said that while Cho was in prison, he focused a lot on working out. He allegedly told inmates he was terrified that someone was going to attack him when he gets out, so he needs to work out. One commentator said, why? Why is your body that precious? Is your body more precious than an eight-year-old's body? No matter what, Cho will always care for his own physical body. He will go to whatever lengths for himself, which is terrifying.

1:18:00Knowing that Cho allegedly told one of the arresting officers later after the trial, I'm gonna work out in prison, build up my strength, and I'll see you 12 years later. Allegedly, he would also complain about the food in prison. He would complain that he wasn't getting enough food to bulk up. He would allegedly ask the people serving the food, is this food for a human? Why are you giving me such a little food? And because he was so ripped, the inmate said he actually did not get wrecked in prison like a lot of notorious child offenders would. He was kind of the top dog in the prison when an inmate was asked why.

1:18:35The inmate said, I don't know. He's been in there a long time. He's old. He's got a dirty looking face. His face is, you know, his hair is white. He doesn't shave. The inmate continued, my first impression of him was that he looked like a violent offender. How do you differentiate between a violent offender just by looking at them? It's in the eyes. You're in prison. You can tell it's in the eyes. Cho told the other inmates that when he gets out, he wants to sell coffee on the mountainside. I don't know if that means he wants to open up a cafe. That's what it was interpreted as. But either way, it's astonishing that this man is here thinking about his future.

1:19:11But the most terrifying part of all of this is that it's said that he is still has a very high drive at 68 years old. One psychologist stated he's still excessive in his desires and those desires are being actively expressed in his behavior. So yes, this does raise a bit of concern. According to an inmate, this is an allegation, but allegedly Cho would tell his fellow inmates that the electromagnetic waves from the TV and the CCTV cameras were suggestive to him and he would aggressively self-pleasure himself to those electromagnetic waves. So why can't the government do something? Because he does not sound like he is ready to be a part of society.

1:19:50The best option the government could have done would have been 12 years ago. When Cho tried to use that drunk defense, they could have thrown it out. The prosecutors could fought like hell, tooth and nail to get that defense thrown out. But they didn't. They didn't even appeal when the sentence was given. Now it's too late to appeal his sentence. He cannot be tried again for his crime because that would be against his constitutional right of double jeopardy. The government cannot now reverse the sentence or add on more years. I mean, there were conversations that he and other offenders should be held in a halfway house outside of prison when their sentence is over.

1:20:24So you stay in there until we are sure that you will not reoffend. But that idea, this bill, has been shut down by human rights activists because they are worried that it would be abused and criminals could be held indefinitely in that halfway house. Human Rights Commission of Korea stated detaining an inmate who has already finished their jail term is a violation of a human right. Netizens thought, okay, then what about we chemically castrate him. So in 2011, South Korea enacted a law that allowed judges the power to sentence offenders who attack children under the age of 16 to be chemically castrated.

1:20:57Chemical castration is when you use chemicals or drugs to stop the sex hormone production. The purpose is to lower libido and sex activity. It can also be used to treat things like cancer. So it's not just used for like offenders or criminals or anything like that. There's a lot of medical reasons why one might need one. But a lot of countries have talked about chemical castrating for offenders. And it sounds crazy. Chemical castration, like those two words sound unhinged, but it's really not. Chemical castration is not removing any organs. You're just taking chemicals to suppress drive. So it's not even like a one surgery, one shot.

1:21:33It's like a constant. Yes, it's not permanent. Yeah, it's not a form of sterilization either. You can continue to have children. I mean, generally, chemical castration is reversible when you stop the treatment, when you stop receiving those chemicals. And there are some risks like increased body fat and reduced bone density and increase in long-term risk of cardiovascular disease. But like birth control probably has the same amount of risks. And compared to the injuries inflicted by Cho, I would say that these side effects seem non-existent. but that law was passed in 2011. It does not work retroactively.

1:22:09So no one can force Cho to be chemically castrated. He also cannot be forced to live away from schools like we talked about. In fact, he can't even be forced to live a certain distance away from his victim. He can move half a mile away if he so wishes which is exactly what he does when he gets out. And side note, this is so angering but I do think that a lot of city officials, the prosecutor that worked on this case, and someone in Ansan that's making these horrible decisions, they should feel guilt. They should feel shame for the rest of their lives. Get this. Nayoung's family were struggling before Nayoung's attack.

1:22:47Nayoung's dad was a daily worker, meaning he would go out and offer manual labor for the day. If someone needed his services, he would make money. If they didn't, he made no money. And the problem is, at that point, you're so desperate for any money, you just take any amount of work for any low cost. Nayoung's mom was a housekeeper and worked random other jobs to put food on the table. They did not have enough money. After the attack, both parents had to quit their jobs to take care of Nayoung to make her feel emotionally and mentally secure and to help her physically. Nayoung received payments from the Ansan city.

1:23:20Not a lot. Okay,$5 ,000 to help pay for the hospital expenses and other things. But in June 2009, Nayoung's health insurance came through and paid the family$32 ,000 for the attack. The city of Ansan then went to the family and demanded the return of$5 ,000. What? The city was going to demand full repayment and if Nayoung's family did not pay them back in full, they said that they would stop any and all government assistant payments to Nayoung's family. They said it is principal. If you have a balance of more than$2 ,300 in your bank account, you will be excluded from all support by the city. and the family just got paid$32 ,000 in insurance money.

1:24:00You gotta be shitting me. Angry netizens were the only reason Ansan withdrew their letter and continued all government assistant payments to the family again. And the whole thing was ridiculous. The government seemed more than okay with paying so much in taxpayer money to protect Cho and watch over Cho as soon as he got his right to freedom. It's kind of wild. Netizens said it's like he's some sort of incredible person that we as a society need to protect. He's not even a criminal with a high hope of reforming. From a logical standpoint, this is the worst investment of taxpayer money. That is so f***ed up because what is the argument behind protecting him?

1:24:41It's prevention, right? Prevention, yeah. Okay, then why aren't we protecting the victims? No, it's not prevention of Cho's crime. It's prevention of someone committing a crime against Cho. That's what I'm saying. that's the f***ed up part right? Instead the same amount of money could totally be spent to protect the people who needs to be protected or just at that point give a million dollars to Nayoung and her family let them move out of the country if they must yes I don't even know how to wrap my head around it the fact that he is one of the most well protected men in South Korea and they're nickel and diming Nayoung's family for$5 ,000 it got so bad that in 2009 lawyers from the Korean Bar Association, the Human Rights Committee, filed a lawsuit on behalf of Nayoung's family against the state for the way that the prosecutors handled the case.

1:25:34I believe she did receive an undisclosed amount of compensation, but typically in South Korea, it's not a big amount. I mean, it's going to be nothing compared to what Nayoung had to go through because of them. To make the situation even more frustrating, Cho will be living on government assistance when he gets out. He will be receiving$1 ,000 a month from the government. It's unbelievable A lot of people were angry for this for obvious reasons But also because he didn't even pay taxes for the past 12 years He was in jail for committing one of the most heinous crimes known to mankind Why does he have the right to government assistance?

1:26:11A lot of netizens commented I'm jealous I don't have money either But they're not giving me anything This bastard, Joe Dusun, gets to live and eat off of our tax money I don't usually swear But this is unfair Someone else commented,

1:26:31The government did try to ease the public, and they said, Well, Cho is not completely free, guys. We have limitations. He's going to wear a GPS-enabled anklet 24-7 for seven years. His address and personal details will be disclosed on a government website for five years, but after that, it will be illegal for citizens to find him after five years and warn friends of his address. Yeah, you could be sentenced to five years in prison. Literally, why? Like, why? Why does it matter five years later, we need to hide where he lives? Like, why? Even now, you could be arrested. So, for example, if I told you, if I was a Korean citizen, and I told you where Cho lives, even through a private text message, like a Kakao Talk message, I could be arrested.

1:27:18All I can say right now, even though his address is on the government website as of right now, is, hey, go to the government website to find his address. But like, why can't we just all dox him after five years and then state that we were all drunk? We were in a state of temporary psychosis, of course. Cho was also assigned a one-on-one parole officer, and they stated it would be 24-hour surveillance once Cho gets out. Round-the-clock surveillance. And the probation officer is permitted to make random visits to Cho's home. But even the probation officer was interviewed and he said, there is a real possibility Cho will harm other people and enact other extreme forms of violence.

1:27:58Like on the record, it says I'm supposed to surveil him 24 hours a day. But in reality, when he goes to bed, we can't keep track of that. If he's in his house before bed and drinks, we can't really control that. We are trying to do our best within the frame of the law. And fine, he has to wear a GPS tracking anklet bracelet for seven years. But so what? The other offenders that NBC interviewed, they had an ankle bracelet. They were at playgrounds. That doesn't alert anyone of anything other than maybe where he is, but we don't know where he is with who he is. He could easily kidnap a kid and bring them into his house.

1:28:30What would the ankle bracelet tell his probation officer that he's safe at home? That's it. And it's only on for seven years. Cho is prohibited from drinking more than a certain amount of alcohol. His blood alcohol concentration has to stay below 0.03%, which is one drink if you drink it very quickly. so he's not even forbidden to drink which is wild considering the whole reason he claims he committed this crime was because he was drunk but they're like fine you can still drink a little bit he also has a curfew he cannot leave his house between the hours of 9 p.m and 6 a.m which okay and what what is that going to do for anyone the attack on naeong happened at 8 30 a.m i don't know who came up with these type of laws yeah like no kids are even outside typically at 9 p.m to 6 a.m yeah this curfew is masquerading as some sort of big prevention tactic and it's very odd the whole half mile radius around cho's house has also been designated as quote i kid you not a woman's safety area wait what does that mean there's going to be heightened security presence there yeah so it's safe for women is what is it that's i guess the the naming of it but that doesn't, none of this makes sense.

1:29:44First of all, the name is ironic. And second of all, Na Young was a child. Clearly, women, full-grown women are not his target. And nothing is being done to stop his release. He has been released. I mean, nothing was done. I don't want to say nothing so definitively. I'm not an attorney, nor am I part of the government, nor do I know everything that happened behind the scenes. But the citizens, it seems like they're the only ones that tried to prevent Cho's release. They signed a petition. South Korea has a population of around 52 million people. Of that like 8 million are children. 1.2 million people signed the petition to keep him in some sort of rehabilitation center after prison.

1:30:24Nothing was done. A professor of the Korean Institute of Criminology said, It's impossible to isolate these criminals from society forever. The criminal system must ensure that they reform when they return. Everybody hates the offenders. We all know that. The whole world hates them. but their return is inevitable. They will be back. And Chodosun was coming back to Ansan of all places. It doesn't even appear that he has a strong network of friends and family. So why Ansan? Like why come to the place where everyone hates you? I mean, everyone in Korea hates you but why not just move somewhere quiet?

1:31:01You have no intention of getting a job. You're living on government assistance. Move somewhere quiet and live the rest of your life in solitude and try to find some remorse. him moving back to Ansan feels to citizens and to Nayoung's family almost like him saying yeah and what? what are you going to do about it? Nayoung's dad was interviewed by Cho San Il Bo and he said how can Cho come back to Ansan where his victim lives? I feel like he's trying to retaliate by moving back here to make matters worse Cho allegedly wrote in multiple letters to the judge that his last request his last wish wish was to meet his victim again oh my god that is so sick and twisted yeah i feel like he knows that the victim would read that or find out about it and it would re-traumatize her yeah and what intention for someone like him to have he knows what this will do to the victim yeah so he's obviously doesn't have the victim's interest in mind so he has his own interest in mind which means he gets off yeah on the victim being in pain exactly but he's free that's it it has been 12 years but naeong has been on this very slow painful journey of healing and it's not just like a one-way road it never is with trauma you take three steps forward and 20 steps back how can the government let this man out naeong's dad said my daughter still has to wear a diaper at home she has to carry the largest sanitary pads in her bag when we go out.

1:32:32People won't know how we feel as parents if they've never experienced this before. I feel like a sinner who can't even protect their own child, but Cho is coming back near our home. Does that make sense? Niall only watches cartoons as an adult. She was 20 in 2020 when he was released. She can't watch the news. She can't watch crime thrillers. She will faint if there is any depiction of assault. But Cho, the monster who claims he's reformed and is remorseful, he wants to move to the town where the crime happened, the city where he knows his victim still lives. Nayoung has been here her whole life.

1:33:10Her friends are here. The ones that helped her through all of this, that pulled her up, they're all in Ansan. Why should she have to move? It might be the only place in the whole world that she was able to somewhat be comfortable in. The government offered Nayong's family a smart watch that will detect a signal if the perpetrator gets close. Her dad said that would just make them more anxious. That's not a way to ease the trauma. He said, if the watch sends an alert to my daughter, she will freak out. And it will make it easy for people to identify her as the victim of the attack and identify her as Nayong.

1:33:44It feels like these government officials are so out of touch. It's like they try to do things to quote help because people demand it. But I feel like if that's their family member, they would not treat it this way at all. I did see some netizens commenting some enlightening things of when government officials, such as the prosecutor, does such things where you cannot understand it and it almost feels like they're on the perpetrator's side. It makes you wonder, do they just relate to the perpetrator more for whatever reason? All the netizens are saying, it doesn't matter what political party you're in.

1:34:25Nayeon's case, it's a united front as a nation. Everyone wants Cho dead, or at least in prison for the rest of his life. So it just, it doesn't make sense in people's minds what these government officials are doing. There is no logic. There's no rhyme or reason. At first, when Cho was released, I mean, absolute hell broke loose. There was a squad probably of 20, 30 police officers surrounding the perimeter of his apartment building 24-7 for weeks, months. The crowd chasing after Cho in his government-issued vehicle when he was released from prison. Like, that's special treatment. Usually prisoners are required to find their own method of transportation back home.

1:35:06The crowd chased after the government vehicle, kicking it. YouTubers went and climbed on top of the government car, jumping on it. They were egging the car. The police had to barricade a whole road from the prison to Cho's house. The car was getting egged, flowered. Protesters are ordering black bean noodles to the apartment, trying to pose as food delivery drivers to get into the building to kill Cho. When that failed, they just sat and ate black bean noodles in front of the cops. Which, honestly, the cops probably didn't want to be there in the first place either. Like, I don't think any single cop in their right mind wants to protect Cho.

1:35:42Citizens went around to the back of the building, turned off the gas line into the building. They said, you don't have hot water, you don't have gas to cook with. Some showed up with rocks to throw at his window. Others brought frying pans to bang on. It was a literal war zone. At least four people were arrested the first day. They're going to be facing criminal charges of obstruction of justice, destruction of property, and battery, which I hope they tell the judge that they were drunk. But after a few months, Ansan quieted down, and there were no more angry citizens with cartons of eggs. It was just quiet.

1:36:17Residents don't feel safe in their own city. One resident said, what is the point of installing cameras? Here's what they're saying when they install cameras. If there's an incident, we will deal with it after it happens. Cameras are not about prevention. It's totally useless. The playgrounds in Ansan feel like a ghost town. It feels more like an abandoned city's playground. This is a town that has close to 716 residents. Sometimes you hear swings squeaking, but it's just the wind. None of the kids are on the playground. It feels like parents are anticipating a monster around every corner. But December 4th, 2023, just a month ago, 9pm, the streets of Ansan are quiet.

1:36:57Very quiet. Not a single soul goes out at night without a care in the world. I mean, everyone, if they're going out at night, they've got a destination in mind. They're avoiding alleyways. Children have curfews. Everyone except Chodusun. Because you don't have to be scared of the monsters when you are the monster. December 4th, 2023, 9 p.m., past Cho's curfew. He disappeared from surveillance for 40 minutes. Cho is not allowed to leave his house between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. He was missing for 40 minutes between 9.05 p.m. to 9.45 p.m. 40 minutes. You can walk half a mile within 5, 10 minutes, depending on your walking pace.

1:37:39So let's say a mile takes you 15 to 20 minutes to walk. That still leaves Cho with 20 minutes to do something. And remember, Nayang's family home was half a mile away. In 2008, it only took Cho 30 minutes to almost kill Nayang and then head back home to change and fall asleep. He was out for 40 minutes. At 9.05 p.m., Cho leaves his house. He walks out of the main gate of his apartment and there's this little booth of police officers set up. They have to have stationed police officers outside 24-7. He walks up to them. And he starts talking to them. They immediately tell him, go back inside. You're breaking curfew.

1:38:17You're breaking the literal law. But he refuses. He says, I had a fight with my wife. I just want to cool off. As he's whining, the ankle bracelet activates and an officer is dispatched to the scene. It takes a full 40 minutes to either persuade, coerce and encourage Cho to get back into the house. I don't know why force wasn't an option here. Like he's clearly breaking the law. So I don't know why they couldn't force him physically. But 40 minutes. That they were talking? Yeah. to finally convince him to go back in. This incident happened just over a month ago and everyone is enraged. They asked, what if Cho didn't walk to the police officers out front?

1:38:54Did they even see him? What if he just left somehow? Why is it that children and these parents have to live in fear every day of their lives while he gets to break laws and stroll out of his house whenever he wants? That sounds like enough reason to throw him back in jail. Yes, but they won't. It also feels like Cho is testing to see what he can get away with. This feels like him pushing the rules, which I wouldn't be surprised. And it works because Cho is an expert at getting what he wants out of the Korean justice system. Netizens are not happy with the incident or the fact that Cho is free.

1:39:25One commented, stop giving everyone trouble. Just someone go over there and cut his Achilles heel. He approached the police first. I feel like he's just testing to see if he could get away with it next time. We should not underestimate Cho. If the police had not been there at the post or if they didn't see him, he could have done something. So crazy. It's like, you know, most of the time you hear a lot of these police things like, oh, wow, they're just manhandling you. But over here, they're having a peaceful conversation. Like, please, please go back home, please. The prosecutors were yelling at Nayongi to sit up straight.

1:40:00Yeah. And they're like, please, Cho, do us a favor. Do us a solid. I swear, sometimes when I research these cases, I feel like evil is rewarded. I don't understand. Other people wrote, I can't believe our tax money goes to this guy for this one devilish criminal. Thankfully, Nayoung was safe in those 40 minutes because she no longer lives in Ansan. The family had to move. The family didn't have money. The local community raised$100 ,000 to give them for all moving costs and just life. Nayoung is in college now, so to her college fund as well. It was just incredibly kind and Nayang and her family were forever grateful.

1:40:41They did not have the resources prior to this, but they're still upset. Nayang's dad said, we didn't want to run. We had no choice. I also wanted to deliver a message that the government did nothing but force the victim to go into hiding. It was our only option to move away. Many years have passed and still nothing has changed. The burden still falls entirely on the victim. He said that there needs to be much more support for victims. He's scared that there's going to be all this buzz and attention after Cho's release, and it's going to disappear. He said, it'll be more helpful if there's an appointed public official or social worker who can keep in touch with victims.

1:41:17Just once a month, give us a call. We'll feel more secure. All we want is to know that, say to victims, you are not alone and we support you. That's what victims' families really want to hear. How do you think this makes us as parents feel? When your child tells you they're scared and we have to move away. Nayong wanted Cho to be in prison for 50 years. instead he gets 12 and now he's free and she's on the run parents in korea they used to have a saying that you got to enjoy your time with your daughter as a little kid because once they become a teenager they don't want to hang out with you anymore but now knowing that there are more chojusuns out there in the world and the justice system is protecting them a lot of parents say we want our girls to grow up as quickly as possible there have been some changes made a bill called the chojusun law was passed.

1:42:05It bans SA offenders of minors from going near schools and leaving their homes at night and during hours when students commute to and from school. But that doesn't include hagwons, tutoring centers, parks, the mall, like other places where students gather. The law has also been amended to make it more difficult for defendants to use alcohol intoxication as a defense. But it's still kind of left up to the description of the judges. even in 2019. 2019. Just a few years ago, a 26-year-old male essayed a college student. He claimed he was drunk at the time. He received three years in prison, but even that was reduced to four years of probation.

1:42:41Outside. Free. And even with Cho Du Soon being a quote free man, the government keeps making reassurances to the public that he will be closely watched. But now netizens want to know, and then what? We're going to spend all our taxpayer money on trying to prevent Cho Du Soon from reoffending, But what about all the other Chodosuns? What about all the other children being hurt? How do we prevent all the other offenders from offending and re-offending? Data from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family revealed that only about half of recorded crimes against children 13 or younger resulted in a jail sentence at all.

1:43:15What? With the other remainder receiving a probation or a fine. This is between 2010 and 2015. About 61 % of jail sentences were around 1 to 5 years And less than 10 % of jail sentences were more than 10 years That's so crazy Knowing that Korea has such a crazy law against drugs Yeah You are literally dead if you do any type of drugs And here you are Yeah Some of the most vile crimes and you get like a couple years So recently with the actor who passed and this Cho Do Soon breaking his curfew, a lot of netizens have been saying, SA, murder, it's okay. We forgive you. Drugs, you're a dead man walking.

1:44:05That is South Korea. I mean, it's just crazy. A lot of netizens said, and the government wonders why South Korea's birth rate is declining. I mean, there's a huge host of reasons, economic, financial, socioeconomic, but the sentiment applies that this is not just South Korea, by the way. This is clearly in the U.S. as well. Why would we want to raise our children in a world that does not protect our children? One netizen commented, I think it's extremely important to note that Ansan City funds are literally being thrown away trying to stop a criminal from being a criminal when it could be used to help a victim and a family have a better chance at life.

1:44:45Another commenter just reads, I hope he dies of COVID-19. Heart emoji. When Cho was attacked with a hammer, one comment read, To the doctors of Cho Dusun, this is exactly the time to make medical errors. If by mistake you drop the scalpel and cut him in half, this is just a medical error and all the citizens will understand and support you. Another comment reads, there's no way to control someone like him. He's like a fire that needs constant suppression or he will be out of control. And it feels like nothing has changed with him and nothing has changed with the justice system for the past 12 years.

1:45:18And that is where we are with this case. Yeah, I'm just, I just feel like this is not the end of it. No, I, yeah, there's no way this is the end of it. He's only been out for how long? And yeah, wow. Please, please leave your thoughts in the comments and please, please be safe. and I will see you guys on Sunday for another episode. Bye.