A Flood of Online New Revelations... Everyone Saying "Justice Served by My Own Hands"

On the 16th, a video titled "Highway Bus Annoying Woman" was posted on an online community. In the video, where the woman's face is fully revealed, she reclines her seatback as far as possible and, when the bus driver and other passengers asked her to raise the seatback a little, she hurled insults at them. The post quickly spread across the internet, attracting comments such as "I hope her personal information becomes widely known" and "Thank you for revealing her face." There were also comments demanding an investigation into the woman's identity and punishment.

Recently, videos and photos of the 'Express Bus Troublemaker Woman' have been posted on online communities, and netizens are investigating her identity.
[Photo by YouTube capture]

Recently, there has been an increase in cases where people post about individuals who cause inconvenience or behave inconsiderately in daily life, a practice known online slang as "justice implementation," referring to "private sanctions." A representative example is fare evasion, commonly called "meoktwi (eating and running)." In February, a post titled "Suncheon Cheongam University Area Restaurant Fare Evasion Incident" appeared on an online community. It stated that "a man ate 50,000 won worth of samgyeopsal at a restaurant run by an elderly couple in their 70s and disappeared without paying." The author, who identified himself as the son of the elderly couple, asked for help online to find the man. After the post was uploaded, online community users eventually uncovered and exposed the man's identity.

There is also a similar case related to parents' "gapjil" (abuse of power) controversies against teachers. In August, the identity of a woman who verbally abused a kindergarten teacher, claiming to be a KAIST graduate, was revealed online. The woman found by online users was not a KAIST graduate and eventually had to admit that she did not attend KAIST.

Online community users are demanding a background check on a woman who shouted loudly at a bus driver and others on an express bus.
[Photo by Online Community Capture]

As social punishments substituting for public authority, such as revealing personal information, attracted public attention, so-called "YouTube vigilante groups" have proliferated. On August 20, public attention was drawn to the "Apgujeong Rolls-Royce Incident," where a man in his 20s named Shin drove a vehicle under the influence of drugs near Apgujeong Station in Seoul and hit a woman in her 20s. This attention began with a private detective YouTube channel. The video revealing Shin's identity posted by this YouTuber has 4.44 million views. Additionally, a YouTube video revealing the identity of Lee, the perpetrator of the "Busan Spinning Kick Rape and Attempted Murder Incident," recorded 6.81 million views.

This phenomenon is analyzed as reflecting public distrust in the entire judicial system, including investigation and trials, and a strong desire for justice. Professor Im Myeong-ho of Dankook University's Department of Psychology said, "When there is a large gap between the punishment the public expects for offenders and the punishment actually carried out, distrust in the judicial system arises," adding, "The Korean public, along with this distrust, experiences pleasure from private revenge, which has led to enthusiasm for so-called 'private punishment.'"

Meanwhile, such private punishments are sometimes exploited by some YouTubers as a means of making money. The "Highway Bus Annoying Woman" videos uploaded on YouTube were all the same scenes posted by different YouTubers with only the titles changed, and each video had between 35,000 and 260,000 views. More than ten identical videos were also uploaded as YouTube Shorts, each from different accounts.

Professor Kim Do-woo of Kyungnam University's Department of Police Science said, "Private sanctions can be abused as witch hunts, and even if innocent people suffer, it is difficult to restore the damage," adding, "Since private punishment induced online also serves the financial interests of YouTubers, facts are sometimes exaggerated or distorted." He added, "This situation arises because of the declining trust in our judicial system, so it is necessary to restore that trust."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.