Sexual Assault And Police Negligence— The Infuriating Death Of Aspiring Actress Yang So Ra

KBS2′s crime program Smoking Gun recently aired an episode uncovering the case of Yang So Ra, an aspiring actress, whose death in 2009 devastated her entire family.

On August 28, 2009, Yang So Ra, a graduate student, jumped to her death from the 18^th floor of an apartment building. She was known for being a quiet and diligent student, but her temperament reportedly changed drastically after she started working part-time as an extra in television productions.

She started the job at the suggestion of her younger sister, Yang So Jung. Both sisters, dreaming of becoming actresses, started working together as background actors in a production that was being filmed at Gyeongsangnam-do’s Hadong. Initially, things were normal, but after So Jung quit the job, So Ra’s behavior became erratic quickly. She lost her energy and started showing concerning symptoms, including violent outbursts toward her family.

So Ra’s mother recalled that she would go around the house naked, stab a tray with a kitchen knife while shouting that she had to kill them. Her family found notes in her room that read things such as “I want to die,” “Drowning is the answer,” and “Be careful of the team leader.”

So Ra was eventually admitted to a psychiatric hospital, where she made a shocking confession. She claimed to have been repeatedly sexually assaulted by 12 different people at the filming site, including a manager she referred to as the “team leader.”

According to So Ra, she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by this “team leader” over a period of two months. He made her drink alcohol during a company gathering and then took her to a private room where the assault occurred. Afterwards, he also took her to a motel multiple times for further assault. His abuse continued even when they were on a bus later.

However, that was not the end of it. Yang claimed that three other supervisors took turns in sexually assaulting her, and one of them even confiscated her phone and locked her up for three days.

When her mother came to know about these assaults, she persuaded Yang to file a complaint with the police. She named a total of 12 individuals, accusing four of them of sexual assault and the rest of sexual abuse. All of the accused were assistant directors and staff members. Yang claimed that over a period of three months, these 12 individuals sexually abused her at least 40 times. However, the accused denied all allegations and even threatened her.

However, after two years, Yang withdrew all charges against the accused, explaining that she couldn’t endure recalling the incidents during the investigation. After this, she appeared to have regained some stability while living with her family members. But things took a tragic turn when Yang committed suicide.

Her tragic passing was devastating and enraging for her mother, who believed that the police were to be blamed. She recounted the harrowing experience of trying to convince the police officers to take her daughter’s case seriously. When the family first went to the police station, they had taken a bunch of notes and audio recordings made by So Ra. However, the police dismissed it, saying that she had no case and even advised her to move on.

Although the assigned investigator was changed later, the investigation process continued the secondary victimization of So Ra. Reportedly, the investigator even asked her to draw the genitals of the alleged perpetrator. Her mother regretted tearfully that she put up with all the cruelty of the investigators, thinking it might help her daughter’s case, but it ended up doing the opposite.

Yang So Ra’s tragedy didn’t stop at her own demise. Six days after her passing, her younger sister also died. The mother recalled that So Jung blamed herself for introducing the part-time acting job to her sister, and had stopped eating after So Ra passed away. Furthermore, upon learning about the elder daughter’s trauma, her father also collapsed and later passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage.

After losing her entire family, Yang So Ra’s mother was left thoroughly devastated. She didn’t come to her senses until four years had already passed. Since then, she has been on a quest to seek justice for her daughters by sharing their truth with the world.

The case has garnered massive attention on Korean online forums. Outraged netizens are demanding accountability for both the perpetrators and the police officers.

• “I was watching it yesterday and honestly, it made me so furious… I can’t even imagine what kind of pain the mother has endured all this time. There are crazy f*ckers everywhere.”
• “I remember this case. Those d*mn b*stards—don’t let them rest easy. Visit them every night and make their lives miserable for the victims’ sake.”

• “The cops are all in on it too. That b*stard cop needs to be sued, stripped of his badge, and thrown in jail. All the perpetrators deserve the death penalty—let’s go.”
• “Please, just reveal their identities already, damn it.”
• “If it were up to me, I would expose all those guys’ identities, sue all the police officers, and maybe even kill them all.”