SEOUL, South Korea – The secretary of one of South Korea’s most powerful political figures, Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul, described how she suffered years of sexual abuse and harassment at her hands, calling in her first public statement the Monday for a world where women can be treated “like humans”.
The statement was released hours after the funeral of Mr. Park, who committed suicide last week after his secretary went to the police with his allegations.
“I felt helpless and weak in the face of the immense power,” the woman said in a statement released by her lawyer at a press conference on Monday. “I wanted to yell at him in a safe court of law, telling him to stop him. I wanted to cry how much it has hurt me. “
“I wanted to forgive him,” the statement continued. “I wanted him to be tried in a court of law and to apologize to me as a human partner.”
While her mindset is unknown, Park, a lifelong champion of women and the second-most powerful official in Seoul after the president, committed suicide on Thursday, a day after his secretary, whose name and other personal information he did not were revealed, he went to the police with his accusations. In his suicide note, Mr. Park did not mention the allegations, only saying that he “regretted everyone.”
On Monday, the woman’s lawyer, as well as activists, called for an investigation, saying she had been widely vilified on social media, where online trolls tried to reveal her identity and blamed her for leading the popular mayor to commit suicide. . According to South Korean legal procedures, Mr. Park’s criminal case is closed, and there will be no charge, because the suspect is dead.
“What happened doesn’t go away just because the defendant is dead,” said Go Mi-kyeong, director of the Korea Women’s Hotline, one of the women’s rights groups where Park’s secretary sought help after going to police. “The first step in restoring the victim’s human rights is to reveal the whole truth.”
Ms. Go asked the police to reveal what they have learned so far about the case. Police interviewed the victim and her lawyer for almost 10 hours until early Thursday morning. Go also demanded that the Seoul City Council initiate an investigation into why she had dismissed the secretary’s previous allegations of sexual harassment.
“When she requested help with the City Council, officials there tried to protect the mayor, saying that he would never have done such a thing or that she should dismiss it as a minor mistake,” said Lee Mi-kyeong, head of the Help Center for the sexual violence from Korea, another women’s rights group. “This is a typical case of sexual violence in which the victim faces tremendous power and is prevented from posing a problem.”
Seoul City Council did not immediately respond to a request for an investigation.
In South Korea, men dominate the upper levels of society, applying a strictly hierarchical code. Culture can make women vulnerable to sexual abuse and make it difficult to speak.
As in other countries, the #MeToo movement has spread throughout South Korea in recent years. The women have brought sexual abuse allegations against a variety of prominent men, including theater directors, politicians, teachers, religious leaders and a former coach of the national speed skating team.
Many of the defendants have apologized and resigned from their charges. Several have faced criminal charges.
Mr. Park was by far the largest #MeToo indictment in South Korea.
In 2018, she won a record third term as mayor of Seoul, a city of 10 million where she pushed for policies to make it safer for women. As a well-known human rights lawyer, he won the country’s first sexual harassment case.
Kim Jae-ryeon, the secretary’s attorney, said the victim first came to her on May 12, accusing Mr. Park of sexually harassing her in his office and in an attached room. Park pressed his body onto her while taking selfies, the lawyer said during the press conference.
He also called her to her room and asked her to hug him. Usually late at night, she would send obscene messages and photos of her in her underwear via Telegram, an encrypted messaging application, the lawyer said.
“Once, when he saw a bruise on the victim’s knee, he touched her lips there, saying it would heal the wound,” said the lawyer.
The lawyer said the victim had told police that she displayed some of Mr. Park’s obscene messages to her friends, as well as to a reporter and coworkers at City Hall. The secretary also presented incriminating evidence to her police on her smartphone, she said.
Mr. Park, now dead, cannot defend himself against these allegations. His family has urged the media not to make unconfirmed and unilateral charges.
In the rain on Monday, hundreds of supporters gathered outside the City Hall, while Mr. Park’s funeral was taking place inside. When the hearse brought Mr. Park’s body to be cremated, many supporters lamented and some tried to lock the vehicle.
Later, his ashes were transferred to Changnyeong, his hometown in southern South Korea, which he left 50 years ago to pursue one of South Korea’s most famous political careers.
Mr. Park’s death divided South Korean society. Many regretted online the premature departure of one of the country’s most talented human rights lawyers, who laid the foundation for the country’s vibrant civil society movement. But his detractors called him “hypocritical.” As political, religious and other leaders have honored him in recent days, some lawmakers and women’s rights leaders have refused to follow his example.
In his statement Monday, his secretary expressed condolences for Park’s death.
But she said she was “stifled” by the way society gave her such a poignant burial, while she has been the subject of “distortion and speculation” for her reason.
“I wonder how I’m going to continue living,” he said.
If you are considering suicide, call the US National Suicide Prevention Line at 800-273-8255 (TALK) or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.
