Just after noon on a beautiful day in the spring of '16, I was in the park adjacent to the Halla Classic Building in Gangnam. I sat on a bench and awaited the arrival of my friend Kathy Choi. She was operating on what she called “Korean time”: about 10 minutes late. I will describe what she missed and offer some comments.
I heard a loud noise from close by. It seemed to be a male voice, shouting in anger. My first inclination was to ignore it. I could hardly count the times I have witnessed Korean people, women and men alike, screaming and acting in a manner that is meant to be intimidating. Back and forth they go, until finally they cool down. This was different. I went to see what in the world was happening. On a narrow street I have walked hundreds of times, I saw a police car. Beside it were three officers doing their best to bring a large man under control. A fourth was standing there, giving orders. I can only assume he was telling the guy to cease and desist, and allow the cuffs to be put on his wrists. He must have been either drunk or mentally ill, or some combination of the two. He was on the ground, struggling mightily and cursing. This man had made up his mind not to go without putting up a fight.
I was among perhaps 100 people staring with big eyes. Try however they might, the three cops could not subdue him enough to cuff him, put him into the back seat of the car and haul him to the station. After maybe 5 minutes of this intense battle, they brought him to his feet. Policeman No. 4 pulled out a Taser and warned the guy that if he did not settle down, he was going to get the biggest shock of his life. He refused to listen to reason and kept on fighting. The first three officers managed to present his large back to No. 4 and then from a distance of no more than two meters, BOOM! The man was in immediate and intense pain. He screamed and fell to the concrete. With no delay, the first three cops pounced and cuffed him. He was not rendered unconscious, however. In fact, it seemed he hardly stopped yelling and cursing. They brought him to his feet and—with some difficulty—led him to the police car. Off they went.
My good friend Wikipedia tells me that a person struck by a Taser experiences stimulation of sensory and motor nerves, causing strong involuntary muscle contractions. The Taser is a non-lethal but very effective weapon.
What I saw was far from pleasant, but it could have been worse. First of all, the man was not being beaten. None of the cops ever hit him. No fists or batons were used to hurt the guy. As for the Taser, no doubt he suffered when the two electroshock darts hit him. It probably hurt like hell. But I do not need to tell you it hurt less than if a gun had been used. There have been a few instances of serious injury and death since Tasers have been made standard tools of law enforcement. Some cops have been known to use the Taser too quickly; these did not.
As for the suspect/perpetrator/criminal, he should have known that fighting the police is a losing proposition. Fight the cops and you will not win. At least in the USA, cops are trained in what is called "CQC": close-quarter combat. They have more firepower, and they can always call in reinforcements. In fact, a second police car came racing up just as the situation reached its climax. Even if the man did not like it (and who would?), he should have just put his hands behind his back and submitted to cuffing and arrest. I see no great shame in saying, "OK, officers, you got me. Let's go downtown." He would have saved himself a lot of pain.
What would have happened to this guy 30 years ago? The police then were trained to apply all the force they wanted to. They were given wide discretion. That is, he would have been beaten in view of everybody. Punish him and let the others see what happens when you cross the police. When they got him to the station, it would have been more of the same—but worse. “Police brutality” is an accusation tossed about all too often. I am here to tell you, police brutality was not used on this street beside the park. I think the police displayed considerable professionalism and restraint in handling the man. I do not know the factors leading up to this confrontation, but I doubt the cops just busted him without reason. I was quite impressed with these four members of the National Police Agency. The way they handled the big bruiser reflected well on Korea itself. I dare say it was indicative of a mature and law-based country.
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