I Guess the Judge Couldn't "Understand His Situation"
Re: Congolese Gets 10 Years for Burglary
Had I been the man's lawyer, I would have argued his case like this:
One of the things that most frustrates the Westerner living in Korea is that when some wrong is committed against the Westerner by a Korean, the Westerner is often told, "You must understand his (the perpetrator's) situation." I was given this line several years ago after being threatened with an attack by a drunk chair-wielding student: a university official told me that I had to understand the student's situation; his sister was dating a Japanese man and this caused him much stress.
Re: Congolese Gets 10 Years for Burglary
Had I been the man's lawyer, I would have argued his case like this:
- "Your Honors (Korea does not use the jury system), my client is a Congolese; the alleged 'victim,' the Beligian Ambassador, a man who represents the country that so cruely colonized the land we now call Congo. My client is suffering from 'post-colonial stress disorder,' a syndrome you Koreans can well understand, having suffered as you have 35 years of brutal Japanese rule. Your Honors, I ask you to 'understand my client's situation' and set him free!"
One of the things that most frustrates the Westerner living in Korea is that when some wrong is committed against the Westerner by a Korean, the Westerner is often told, "You must understand his (the perpetrator's) situation." I was given this line several years ago after being threatened with an attack by a drunk chair-wielding student: a university official told me that I had to understand the student's situation; his sister was dating a Japanese man and this caused him much stress.
Redeemed by Our Savior, I work out my salvation with fear and trembling in Pohang, South Korea, where I live with my wife, daughter, and son and teach English at a science and technology university. Baptized a Methodist and raised a Missouri Synod Lutheran in Buffalo, NY, I spent six years as a guest of the Anglican Communion before being received by the Grace of God into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on the Feast of Saint Andrew, my patron, anno domini 2002.
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