While also critical of her sexual partners, he says that if the girl had been properly brought up in a respectable home, she would not have gone off the rails. Jung Song, director of the Korea Counseling Center, says industrialization is driving symptoms of moral decline, such as prostitution and rape. Instead, he and his friends picked up what they know from pornographic videos. Five of those friends were involved with Hyun A. They and the others face charges of sexual intercourse with a minor. This kind of attitude is symptomatic of a bigger problem, says Jung.
Korean parents have to be more liberal with their kids.
But kids need to explore other interests. They need advice on other aspects of life. Confucianists accept the need for children to be taught about reproductive biology. But they say it must be balanced by lessons in sexual ethics and social responsibility. Without these pillars of morality, he says, Korean society risks collapsing into a state of barbarism.