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A young man allegedly brutally assaulted a young women 3am Monday outside a convenience store in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, while bystanders looked on.

An expat from Canada called the ambulance and police as he was filming the brutal battering but the bystanders, including four young Korean men and two women, did absolutely nothing even when the attacker kicked the victim’s head as hard as he could.

“When the ambulance came, the people at the back told ambulance workers that there’s nothing going on and left,” the Canadian expat told The Korea Observer on Tuesday.

“I’m not a fighter and going there to stop 5-6 guys from fighting would have resulted with me going to jail or hospital… Or deported.”

He said that the police couldn’t do anything about the situation as everyone, including the attacker and victim, left after the ambulance arrived and the victim appeared to have agreed not to press charges against him.

I still think there should be some media attention to the situation and guidelines as to how to react, as a foreigner, in such situation

In South Korea, law enforcement authorities usually do not prosecute an attacker unless the victim files a complaint.

The witness claims that the onlookers would have been punished for criminal negligence under Canadian laws.

“The people in the back would go to jail for not helping her and not calling the cops,” he said.

“There is a law in Canada which is the Good Samaritan law. I cannot be sued or charged for anything if I help in a situation, unlike in Korea.”

Another expat claims that the video should be shared online to open a dialogue with Koreans regarding helping women being attacked in public.

“First, no one helps this girl as she is cursed and kicked. This is a real problem I have seen again and again. No one wants to get involved here,” he said.

“We must protect victims when we see something like this.”