Picture of the Day: ROK Army Perp Walk
An Army soldier, identified only as Sgt. Lim, who was arrested on charges of killing five fellow soldiers in a shooting rampage in June, leaves a military court in Wonju, Gangwon Province, on Oct. 23, 2014, after trial. Lim claimed he committed the rampage after being ostracized for years. (Yonhap)
I’m doing some research and looking for a soldier stationed currently or previously near the DMZ. Hit me up via email if possible @ seanrowe83@gmail. thanks!
They cover up handcuffs? WTF is wrong with this place. heyzeus hernandez christos.
gofuckyaself: This is sometimes done in the US as well (supposedly not to “bias” the jury). So you might also ask “WTF is wrong with THAT place.”
Speaking of rampages, is there a support group or something for foreigners who have had about all they can take with these ——- — —— —— ajeoshis and the ——- —— —- sucking way they drive? Seriously.. I think I’m going to kill someone… >:[
Smokes,
We are your support group. Share your specific problems with us and we will do our best to calm your anger, sooth your hurt, and set your mind at peace.
I will share with you my strategies for avoiding a homicidal incident.
1. I am always perfectly on time. I arrive neither early nor late. This is a huge stress reduction. Everybody I deal with knows this is how I operate. If traffic is light and I arrive early, I wait around the corner and look at ROK Drop on my phone. If traffic is crazy and I am 20 minutes “late”… well, guess what. I am still on time… because the agreed time is a suggestion and my arrival time is correct. Anybody who finds themselves waiting for me can get on their smartphones and respond to emails or look up celebrity gossip or whatever it is they would be doing if they were not waiting for me. Consider it my gift of some leisure time.
I realize not everybody can live this way… so some people may have to leave extra early to always arrive stress free on time… as I do when I absolutely, positively have to be somewhere at a certain time… which is as rare of an event as I can possibly make it.
Smartphones made red lights and wait times no longer an issue. Roll with it.
2. Many people in America drive like azzholes because they are intentional diicks. Many people in Korea drive like azzholes because they are ignorant and oblivious.
This is an important distinction. It is easy to get angry at the intentional diick… to the point of popping off a round into his car if you think you can get by with it. It is much better to pity the ignorant and oblivious. The ajuma weaving through traffic because she is looking up at the sale sign on the department store while answering a text on her smartphone probably has more problems in life than you because her inability to keep her priorities straight is likely a broad spectrum issue.
Once you recognize this, your mental health will improve.
3. Don’t give a fuuck. Who cares if ajushi made a left turn from the right lane. Slow down and let him go. Once he is out of sight, he should be out of mind.
…OK… all that being said, I understand. Every half decade or so, there needs to be some sort of catharsis which resets the Go Psycho Countdown Timer.
…something like…
On a 4 lane country road where you have the right of way, ajushi sees you coming and starts inching into the roadway from a side street. You hover your foot over the brake and flash your lights knowing that he is contemplating doing something selfish and dangerous. He pulls out right in front of you anyway… causing you to mash on the brakes and then miss the next light. After the light turns green, he takes forever to start going and then drives painfully slow. You pull into the fast lane as soon as you can… and, surprise, he speeds up and beats you to it, with no signal. He then drives perfectly nose-to-nose with the car next to him at 10 km/h under the speed limit. You didn’t care about him. You just want to be on your way. But you are starting to care about him.
Traffic is starting to back up behind both slow cars.
You briefly flash your lights indicating a desire to pass and see him looking in the mirror at you… he knows the situation… and he slows down a bit more… but as soon as you move into the right lane thinking you might be able to pass on the right, he speeds back up to match the other car.
Finally, you manage to pass him through luck or driving against incoming traffic or on the shoulder or something… and you give him the stinkeye and a universal sign of disapproval by flipping him off as you flash by… considering it resolved, putting it out of your mind, and happy to be on your way.
Suddenly, he is the fastest ajushi on the road… right on your tail… almost bumper-to-bumper. You are 20 km/h over the speed limit. You tap the brake and he slows down a little and then gets right on your tail again. You dare not go back to the slow lane because if he gets ahead, he may well slow down parallel to the next slow car… but you don’t want to go any faster.
Fortunately, a red light is coming. As soon as you stop, you quickly reverse so your back bumper is within inches of his front bumper, blocking him in. You step out of your car and walk up to his window with a broad smile… and, in the most polite Korean, you look at him with a mild expression and respectful body language and say…
“You dangerously pulled out in front of me when you knew it was unsafe, unkind, and incorrect. You blocked traffic and caused trouble for many people. You did it intentionally to make problems. And then you chased me for no gain, causing further danger. Well, now you have caught me. So, here is what is going to happen. I am going to break your window and pull you out of your car. Then I am going to beat you. I am going to put you in the hospital for several weeks. You can accept this as your punishment for putting other people in danger and your punishment for causing trouble for no reason. Or, you can involve the police. If you can find me, I will have to pay you some money. In doing this, I will know who you are, where you work, where you live, and all about your family. I will then pay more money for truly bad people to beat you even harder and put you in the hospital for even longer. They may do other things beyond my control. Now that you have caught me, is this an acceptable resolution to the purpose of chasing me? No? What do you propose? You just want to forget it? Do you think it is correct that you should forget the potential consequences of your dangerous and needlessly annoying driving? No? If you could relive this situation over again, what would you do? Wait until traffic passes before pulling out? I see. Well, it seems you simply made a mistake, you recognize that, and you will be more careful in the future. I am sorry to have troubled you. Have a good day sir and drive safely.”
This works especially well when you have a gentle manner and a sociopath smile… and really, truly, actually intend in a very low-key way to beat them to the point of putting them in the hospital if they dare to get out of their car or talk any unacceptable shyt that can’t be countered with a smile and mild speaking… especially when you have no problems to throw good money after bad to insure they get beat again if they get uppity about the first round of punishment. People recognize the danger of poking at “crazy and don’t give a fuuck”… and will quickly take any risk-free/obligation-free out.
Maybe they learn a lesson. Maybe not. You certainly feel better.
While there are certain procedures, safeguards, preparations, and things to be aware of to protect yourself from any unmanageable consequences of this foolishness, you should do this every now and then to the truly, truly deserving who have been excessive azzholes by intention…
…and the rest of the time you will be as tranquil as a Hindu cow.
Or, you can move away from there and never have to deal with it again. My blood pressure has returned to normal levels since I left. Yes, there are people in the states who drive like idiots on purpose BUT, I see things on a daily basis here that I never saw even once in Korea.
– If there is heavy traffic both ways and someone is waiting to make a left into a side road, with traffic backed up behind them, a driver in the opposing lane will *gasp* stop, flash his/her lights so the car in the other lane can make that left turn.
– If there is a power outage and the traffic lights aren’t working, drivers actually act like there is a stop sign and take turns going through the intersection in an orderly manner. After being back for over 3 years, this still amazes me when I see it.
– Cars slow down and allow other cars to merge into traffic.
– If someone is coming out of a store or restaurant and is waiting to make a right or left turn into heavy traffic, people stop and allow that car to turn. I’ve seen 3 lanes of traffic come to a complete stop for this.
– If you’re in the right lane sitting at a red light and the car behind you wants to make a right turn, they don’t lean on their horn until you move out into the intersection.
– People here, for the most part, know what that lever on the side of their steering wheel is and they, for the most part, use it to signal when they intend to switch lanes or make a turn.
– My wife and I recently went to a Native American Pow Wow near Nashville. The event was held in a state park and parking was in a big field, with no one to guide drivers on how or where to park. Cars were parked in orderly rows, with plenty of space in between cars and rows so that everyone could leave and no one would be blocked in.
Having said all that, yeah there are idiots on the roads here. But we also have city police, the sheriff department and the state troopers, all of which usually don’t sit in an alley sleeping. Also, knowing that the other driver is probably carrying tends to make folks behave a bit more civil while out on the road ;).
CH: “Maybe they learn a lesson. Maybe not. You certainly feel better.”
I’ll bet they learn. Anonymity breeds azzholes.
The reason they are far fewer azzhole drivers in the country than the city. People are less hesitant to be rude when they’re likely to come in close contact with each other again in social situations.
I hate driving in general, and I drive with the expectation that every other driver on the road is drunk/high and/or retarded. That helps. South Korea was an awful driving experience…I usually took the bus (an adrenaline rush every time, damn scary dat). The only car I had we purchased for 600 dollars and called it the ‘ghetto sled’. It was covering in dents and people seemed to avoid it more.
More hesitant to be rude, intended to say….
Liz,
An armed society is a polite society, as well.
In America, it would be unthinkable to back up, block somebody in, and walk up to their window to start some shyt. There is a chance they would (rightfully) “stand their ground”.
On the other hand, there are enough angry psychos on the highway that pulling out in front of somebody, and then being a diick about it, runs the risk of angering some guy with nothing to loose except a hand full of slugs.
So it all works out.
I knew some pretentious biitch who got a bullet hole in her car. Why? She was driving AT the speed limit in the inside lane on a New Mexico highway and some guy came up behind her and flashed his lights.
“Why didn’t you just pull ahead of the car next to you, merge into the right lane, let him pass and be on his way?”
“He didn’t need to be going that fast.”
“I see.”
The reality is… if someone is on your tail, YOU are the azzhole.
As for Korea, the driving has improved GREATLY over 10 years ago… and improves more every year.
I happily owned no car for many years… with my first car being a GI freebie when my friend left. It had a perfect interior but he had (poorly) spray painted it flat black… which was bad… until a bunch of drunk GIs assured me it would look better if they brush painted it with a can of black gloss I had. They were wrong. It looked like 31 flavors of unwiped azz.
…but people avoid that car like the fat girl at a high school dance. If I wanted to merge, I put on my signal and started to move over. I always got let in… because I was clearly crazy and didn’t give a fuuck.
Nomad, glad to see your blood pressure is doing so well. Being in 2ID I couldn’t drive anyway when I was stationed in Korea and it did not bother me one bit. It was stressful enough leading convoys of Bradleys in Korea dealing with the crazy drivers. The pedestrians were just as bad!