On the 24th, Seo Ji-hyun, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch, who came forward with a 'Me Too' allegation related to former Prosecutor General Ahn Tae-geun in January last year, held a press conference to announce her position at the Seoul Bar Association building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun (47, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 33), who sparked the 'Me Too movement' by exposing sexual harassment within the prosecution, is joining the Ministry of Justice's 'Digital Sex Crime Response Task Force (TF).' Prosecutor Seo is expected to serve as the head of the External Cooperation Team within the TF, primarily handling policy coordination with other government ministries such as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.
According to legal circles on the 26th, Prosecutor Seo, who is a special advisor on gender equality policy at the Ministry of Justice, decided to join the Digital Sex Crime Response TF established by the Ministry of Justice for its own response efforts. Her position will be head of the External Cooperation Team.
Prosecutor Seo will mainly be responsible for policy coordination with other government ministries and plans to also handle media publicity tasks if necessary. If an intergovernmental TF is formed regarding the recently controversial 'n-bunbang' case, she may attend as a representative of the Ministry of Justice.
Prosecutor Seo has previously called for measures to eradicate sex crimes through her social network services (SNS) and radio interviews in relation to the so-called 'n-bunbang' case that recently sparked controversy.
On the morning of the same day, she appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and expressed the view that if Mr. Cho is charged with organizing a criminal group, the maximum sentence under criminal law could be life imprisonment.
The Ministry of Justice formed a dedicated Digital Sex Crime Response TF on the same day to prepare institutional improvement measures related to digital sex crime cases such as the n-bunbang case. The TF consists of 15 members, with Jin Jae-sun, head of the Ministry of Justice Policy Planning Division, serving as the overall team leader.
The TF will be responsible for ▲supporting investigation, prosecution, and criminal justice cooperation (Investigation Support Team) ▲preparing related legal and institutional improvement measures (Law and Institutional Improvement Team) ▲monitoring policy and practical operations (Policy and Practical Research Team) ▲victim protection and support including public defender assistance (Victim Protection Team) ▲and coordinating with related ministries (External Cooperation Team).
A Ministry of Justice official stated, "Through the TF, we will strictly respond to digital sex crime cases and prepare fundamental institutional improvement measures to protect victims and prevent recurrence."
Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office also formed a TF for investigating digital sex crime cases the day before. The TF consists of 21 members, including 9 prosecutors and 12 investigators. Under the command of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Wook-joon, Yuh Hyun-jung, head of the Women's and Juvenile Crime Investigation Department, serves as the overall team leader. This TF was jointly formed by four departments: the Women's and Juvenile Crime Investigation Department, the Violent Crime Department, the Crime Proceeds Recovery Department, and the Immigration and Customs Crime Department.
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