There is a lot of hate comments toward sexual minority on an article that reported the recent suicide of Sergeant Byun Hee-soo. Also the hateful expressions toward Sergeant Byun Hee-soo have hurt other sexual minorities, not just those of Sergeant Byun Hee-soo. As such, hate speech toward a person can extend in scope and cause pain to a particular group as a whole. For example, some elementary school students use words like huguji (Humansia beggars). Such words are hate speech which look down on children living in rental apartments like Humansia. Expressing disgust has become wider and the users of hate speech have expanded beyond adults to students and children. Moreover, Kim Do-yeon, a member of the idol group Weki Meki said, “Vegan Cafe? I don’t like it.” About this, the opinions of netizens were divided into two whether Kim Do- yeon’s remarks were vegan hateful expressions or not. Also, the expression ‘heal-rinee’ and ‘ju- rinee’ (health+child, stock + child) which means beginners in health and stock is divided into two opinions that they were hateful towards children and that they could not be seen as hateful because they just borrowed the characteristics of immature children.

Like this, hate speech itself is a hot potato for us. There is a consistent controversy over whether it is an expression of disgust like ‘ju-rinee’ and

‘heal-rinee’. Moreover, it is even a case of an obvious expression of disgust, it is sometimes advocated as a simple preference. And there are many opinions on the boundary between hate and preference. In this article, we would go through issues that we should know with the purpose to find out what disgust expression is, and how disgust expression affects us through expert opinion.

What is “hate speech”?

Emotions are part of our innate nature. And people have difficulty in controlling their feelings as they wish. In addition, if people don’t try to understand anything they feel bad, the bud of negative emotions grows in our minds. And emotions are out of their control. Many people are angry because of the extreme expression of the drama ‘The World of Married Couple, like Lee Tae-oh’s famous line, “It’s not a sin to fall in love.” Like the case mentioned above, human feeling is sometimes out of our control. So, is hate speech just an expression of feeling? Hong Sung-soo, a law professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, defined hate speech. Hate doesn’t mean you don’t like it vaguely. It is an expression of disgust if it has the intention and effect to discriminate against or exclude someone. Here is an example: in our conversation with friends, we can say that I hate blue clothes. But even the same expression of dislike for clothes can be discrimination and disgusting to point out the traditional ethnic costume Chador worn by Muslim women in front of Muslim women.

Professor Hong Sung-soo asked a question. Do you think simply pointing out the blue clothes and pointing out the Chador (traditional ethnic costume of Muslim) feel different? Some say that the criticism of Chador is a lack of cultural consideration rather than discrimination. However, the blatant expression of displeasure with the costume Chador, which represents Islamic culture, does not simply end in a lack of consideration, but there are possibilities for discrimination and exclusion toward certain cultures.

Even if it is an expression of simple dislike, it is an expression of disgust if you intend to discriminate against or exclude someone. Professor Hong Sung-soo argued that even if I had no intention of expressing disgust, it would be an expression of disgust if the effect occurred. He argued that we should pay attention to the effects. The mentioned word like ju-rinee (stock+child) and heal-rinee (health+child) can have an effect of discrimination and exclusion toward children.

In fact, the International Center for Children’s Human Rights also said that the expression ‘-rinee (something + child)’ could reflect the thought that adults casually view children as imperfect beings. Also, they stressed that these words mean that adults only perceive children as lacking. Of course, children are immature, physically and emotionally less completed.

However, according to the National Institute of Korean Language’s Standard Korean Dictionary, the word ‘child’ means respecting children or being formal about children. If the expression beginner is replaced with the word ‘child’, children can be branded as immature. From now on, people should avoid expressions such as Ju- rinee and Heal-rinee. As a result, even if there was no discriminatory intention against children, words such as Ju-rinee and Heal-rinee, which adults have used casually, can exclude children and foster a social atmosphere of looking at them discriminately.

Hateful expressions that gradually destroy society.

Hate expressions that people use thoughtlessly have a negative impact on society. Hate expressions used without proper consideration become seeds and stepping stones for hate crimes.

According to Professor Hong Sung-soo, a law professor at Sookmyung Women’s University, words frequently used on the Internet, such as ‘kim chi-nyeo (A depreciating word for a woman who is ignorant and relies heavily on a man)’ and ‘doenjang-nyeo(A depreciating term for women who aim for luxury consumption and make ostentatious consumption)’, encouraged a misogynistic atmosphere, which affected the Gangnam Station murder case. Rather than just

a simple motiveless crime, there were seeds of hate expressions that provided a foothold for hate crimes before the incident.

In the case of the 2021’s ‘Atlanta Spa Shooting’ case, which has six of Asian victims among eight victims, it is not a motiveless crime. Professor Grace Kao of Yale University’s Sociology Department claims that the ‘Atlanta spa shooting’ constitutes an Asian hate crime. In addition to this incident, hate crimes toward Asians have occurred several times in the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic. Such as an 83-year- old Korean grandmother was assaulted near a department store in New York, a 91-year-old Chinese grandfather was attacked by a man in his 20s in Chinatown, Oakland, California and so on.

According to the Center for Hate & Extremism and a U.S. university research institute, hate crimes against Asian Americans in major U.S. cities last year rose by 149 percent year-on-year. Is this Asian hate crime just a simple happening of individuals? Before hate crimes, there was an obvious use of hate expressions (such as a word ‘ching-chang -chong’ and a gesture like tearing your eyes sideways) toward Asians and a hateful social atmosphere for Asians.

Likewise, if words like huguji (humansia beggars, hate speech of poverty) are used freely, it can create a negative social atmosphere for poverty, which can eventually lead to hate crimes toward the poor. Moreover, the widespread use of the words ‘something-rinee’ such as ‘heal-rinee’ and ‘ju-rinee’ is a cross-section of our society that is not doing its best to eradicate child abuse .

As director Byun Young-joo said, the hate speech about the living environment and the human being itself is violence. We must try to understand about things that individuals could not choose or are difficult to change. Our society is more diversified than it used to be. It is important to reflect on and think about the impact of my remarks and actions on a society where various people live together. If these little efforts come together, we will become a society where respect and tolerance for others become more natural.

Hate speech is not just an expression of feelings. Disgusting expression is an expression that has the intention or effect of ostracizing and discriminating against someone. If it has an effect, it is a hate expression. Hate speech is an expression that everyone should avoid.