Swedish girl alleges rape by 3 Korean men

Three Korean men in their 20s have been arrested on allegations of raping a Swedish woman they met last month in a club in the Hongdae neighborhood of Mapo District, western Seoul.

The three suspects are being detained for allegedly intoxicating the woman and taking turns raping her, police said Tuesday.

The case was brought to the attention of police when the woman called the Swedish Embassy in Seoul, who then contacted local police and asked for an investigation. Officers from the Mapo Police Precinct were able to arrest all three men that same day after viewing CCTV footage retrieved around the club area.

According to Mapo police, the suspects met the Swedish national in a club on May 14 and lured her into drinking with them until the following morning, saying they would show her “Korea’s club culture.”

After the woman was drunk, she was reportedly taken to one of the suspect’s homes nearby and raped by all three men. Police said the suspects also took photos of her naked body, though whether they were distributed is not yet known.

As of press time Thursday, the Swedish Embassy did not respond to a Korea JoongAng Daily reporter’s email asking for confirmation of the news. When the reporter called the embassy, a Korean female staffer did not deny that the case had occurred but said the embassy would “check our email” if further clarification is needed.

BY KIM YOUNG-MIN, LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]