The Impact of Ethnicity, Juror Gender, and Reverse Discrimination in a Korean Spousal Murder Case

• In Event: Roundtable: Hate Crimes & Discrimination

Abstract

In South Korea, public perception of Korean-Chinese has shifted from viewing them as economically necessary to labeling them as potential criminals due to high-profile crimes and media portrayals. While prior studies have focused on Korean-Chinese men as offenders, little attention has been given to how Korean-Chinese women are perceived in legal contexts, especially when intersecting with gender tensions.
This study investigates how defendant ethnicity, juror gender, and perceived reverse discrimination affect punitive judgments in a spousal murder case. Based on rising gender conflicts in Korea, this study hypothesizes that male jurors with high perceptions of reverse discrimination will impose harsher sentences on Korean women perpetrators than on Korean-Chinese women. Their judgments may reflect not only legal considerations but also broader societal resentment toward perceived privileges of Korean women.
Using a mock jury experiment that manipulates a defendant ethnicity (Korean vs. Korean-Chinese), this study explores how intersectional social tensions shape punitive judgments. The findings will contribute to understanding how reverse discrimination and gender politics distort legal decision-making, emphasizing the need for safeguards to protect judicial fairness amid rising intergroup tensions.

Author

• Yujin Kim, Korea University